Donald Thomas Paradis, born April 10, 1933 passed away peacefully at Bickford of Spotsylvania on Friday, March 5, 2021. Donald is survived by his loving wife of 63 years, Bella Bourgoin Paradis, whom he called “Sweets”. Donald is also survived by his five children: Peter (Suzy) Paradis, Sandy (William) Aiton, Tommy Paradis, Rebecca Paradis Lowrie, and Phillip Paradis. Donald also leaves many grandchildren and great grandchildren to cherish his memory.

Donald was born in and grew up in Van Buren, Maine. He was the oldest of 6 children. While in high school, he was a Boy Scout, played sports, wrote for the school newspaper, and was known as the “Class Webster”.

When Donald graduated in 1951, he went on to Boston College to study Journalism. He was drafted from college into the military during the Korean conflict. Donald served in the Army until he was discharged in 1953.

In 1955 Donald began working for the Cooperative Federal-State Inspection Program in Caribou, Maine as a shipping point inspector for potato shipments. Eventually Donald began inspecting corn and cucumbers and was then asked to travel to Eastern Long Island to become a Federal Produce Inspector in 1961. Don was stationed at the Hunts Point Market in the Bronx where he made lifelong friends and developed skills in inspecting a wide range of produce. In 1973 Donald transferred to Washington, DC to manage the DC market. In 1978 Donald transferred to the Standardization staff, where he revised several standards on potato inspection. In 1982 he transferred to the Grading section. He was the section head from 1995 until his retirement in 2001. After “retirement” Donald continued to work for the State of Virginia as a Cooperative Federal-State Inspector for the next 16 years. You might say working was his hobby! In total Donald spent 61 years working in Agriculture!

Donald was a doer. For hobbies he enjoyed reading, tinkering in his shop, building projects, paint by numbers, gardening, studying history, the Washington Post crossword puzzle, and jigsaw puzzles.

Donald also loved to cook and was famous for his lasagna and his stuffed mushrooms.

When Donald’s children were growing up, he was very active in supporting their extracurricular activities: he was a Cub Scout leader, making a pinewood derby track out of wood; active in the PTO at the elementary school, and was a Little League coach for many years. Donald looked forward to the baseball season each year on TV.

Over their many years as parents he and Bella taught their five children lifelong skills, chief amongst these: work hard, don’t complain, have the confidence in yourself to see your vision through. They have 5 children who are also doers.

A Funeral Mass will be held 11:00 AM Thursday, March 11, 2021 at St. Mary of the Annunciation, Ladysmith Road, Ruther Glen, VA. 22546. The family will receive friends 10-11 AM Thursday at the church. All current COVID-19 safety protocols will be adhered to regarding occupancy, masks and social distancing.