Don was the second son of Lewis and Marjorie Emmons. He had four brothers and sisters: Bob, Jo, Norma, and Howard. He was a prankster in high school and once helped to dis-assemble the principal's car and re-assemble it in his office. He quit school in the 12th grade but when he was told he had to work on the farm, he decided to go back to school.

After graduation, Don joined the Air Force. While stationed in Germany, he spent his weekends traveling Europe. He served during the Cold War, somewhere along the Berlin wall doing something with a radio. After a few years there, he was transferred to Omaha, Nebraska, to become one of those guys who mans the missile silo.

While Don was stationed at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, he met Sharon Morrissey at a roller skating rink. Her beauty and sweetness led to his conversion to Catholicism and their marriage on August 26, 1961. They had three children while in Omaha: Linda, David, and Connie.

When Don's parents died in an auto accident in Michigan, his time in the Air Force was almost up, so he moved his family back to his home state to be near his siblings. There he had two more children: Shirley and Brian. He moved his family to various towns in Michigan and then down to Houston, Texas, when the Michigan economy went bad in the early 1980s. He lived in Houston for a few years then went back north to Nappanee, Indiana.

All those years of smoking caught up with Don; he died of emphysema. He saw four of his children marry and have kids but died before his younger son's wedding. He saw most of his grandkids (Lee, Keith, Amanda, Traci, Brandy, Steve, Stacy, and Ashley) but not the youngest ones (Sandy, Tiffany, Joshua, Zachary, and Cheyene) and none of his great-grandchildren. As of April 2012, his widow Sharon still survives as do all his kids and his sister Jo. The other siblings have gone to be with the Lord, also.