Donald Clarence Ingram, a former longtime Pacific Palisades resident, died of metastatic prostate cancer at his home in Honolulu, on March 25. He was 84. Born on May 11, 1923 in Beverly Hills, Ingram was the older of the two sons of Donald and Ingeborg Ingram. After graduating from Beverly Hills High School, he attended Stanford University for a year before receiving his appointment to West Point, which he entered on July 1, 1941. Don participated in golf and basketball at West Point and graduated 14th in the class of 474 members. As Allied forces were storming the beach at Normandy, he received his diploma on June 6, 1944 and his commission in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He served in Okinawa and Korea before returning stateside to the Special Weapons Project at Sandia Base, New Mexico. While in Albuquerque he met, courted and then married Jeannette Doolittle on April 19, 1947. Don resigned his commission in 1948 to join his father in his wholesale paper distribution business in Los Angeles. He and Jeannette and their infant son Don Jr. moved to Brentwood. After their second son, Jim, was born, the Ingrams built a home in the lemon orchards of the Riviera section of Pacific Palisades in 1952. They had two more sons, Bob and Tom. Don loved sports and, as his sons grew, he greatly enjoyed being with them, either coaching them in the Pacific Palisades Baseball Association or later as a spectator at their high school games. It was a family affair as Jeannette joined in as a scorekeeper for the boys’ PPBA games. Don and Jeannette were excellent golfers and won many club tournaments. They also found great enjoyment in playing courses in other countries as they traveled with friends. Don was actively involved at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church for many years, where his sons attended elementary school. In 1966 Don and Jeannette started attending Calvary Church of Pacific Palisades. Don looked back on this time as the time of supreme significance in his life, where real spiritual transformation took place in his life. He was active in leadership there for many years. Don was also active on the President’s Board at Pepperdine University and helped find land for the Malibu campus. Don had a passion for his work at Ingram Paper Company. His responsibilities there increased over the years and he assumed the role of president as his father’s health declined in the mid-1960s. He was instrumental in the expansion of the firm to Santa Barbara, San Diego, Arizona and Hawaii. Don had started the Hawaii branch in 1978 while staying at their vacation rental home. His and Jeannette’s love for Hawaii increased over the years and they sold their Riviera home and moved there upon his retirement in 1993. Don loved people from all walks of life. He was just as comfortable having a hamburger with a truck driver, as he was a fancy dinner with a business president. He was predeceased by his wife of 60 years, who died last September. He is survived by his brother, John, who worked with him for many years at Ingram Paper; his sons, Donald Clarence Jr. (wife Marylee) of Honolulu, James George (wife Catherine) of Los Angeles, Robert McChesney (wife Joyce) of Los Angeles and Thomas Locke (wife Cari) of Sherman Oaks; granddaughters Lauren Louise Mathison (husband Tate), Christina Locke Ingram and Olivia Michelle Ingram; and great-grandson Finn James Mathison. Don will be buried with his wife in a family service at Forest Lawn in Glendale. A memorial service will be held to celebrate his life at Calvary Church on Palisades Drive at 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 12.
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