Donald E. Emerson, a former resident of Pacific Palisades and Malibu, passed away peacefully on November 7, 2009, with his family at his side. He was 83. Born in Los Angeles on November 16, 1925, Don grew up in Northern California. He attended high school in San Francisco until the middle of his senior year, when he was taken into the Navy’s V12 program during World War II and sent to UC Berkeley. This intense program sent participants through college in 24 months. Don majored in mechanical engineering and was prepared to go off to war, but when his class graduated, the war had just ended, and he served for only a short time on a ship in San Diego. At age 20, Don was then put in charge of a troop train going across the country to New York, an eye-opening experience that he thoroughly enjoyed and often referred to during his life. When he returned to Los Angeles, he took a job with a company studying space exploration, followed by a return to Berkeley to earn a master’s degree in heat transfer. In 1949, Don joined The Rand Corporation in Santa Monica, where he spent 43 challenging, creative and productive years. His early research efforts were in the field of aircraft fire control, armament, weapon-system analysis and continental air defense analysis. He later led studies on space-based ballistic missile defense, and developed a program to handle uncertainties in conventional weapons effects. In 1974, Rand sent Don to Ramstein, Germany, to head up a three-man office at U.S. Air Force Headquarters/ Europe. His last and greatest effort was developing TSAR and TSARINA, large computer programs intended to compare various alternatives for mitigating the effects of air attacks. He ended his Rand career in 1992 analyzing various aspects of the Gulf War. In 1959, while attending his first and only Rand TGIF across the street at the old Surfrider Inn (now Lowe’s Hotel), Don met the love of his life, Duchess Tomson, a lifelong Palisadian. They ‘courted’ playing tennis at the Palisades Recreation Center courts, after which they enjoyed BLT’s at Fat Eddie’s in Santa Monica. After marrying in March 1961, they lived in the Palisades for two years before moving to a home in the Malibu West area, where they enjoyed over 30 years living near the sand and surf, while raising two children. In 1994, as empty-nesters, the Emersons bought property on a little lake in Hayden Lake, Idaho. Don designed their home, and they moved north to the Coeur d’Alene area where Don very happily got involved in woodworking, crafting furniture, bowls and other treasures. They also enjoyed travel and did so as often as possible. Don, a gentleman and a scholar, was a wonderful and beloved person with a great smile. Moments before he passed away, an eagle spread its wings wide and soared just out the window from Don’s bed. It was a moment the family will never forget. Survivors include his wife, Duchess; daughters Nancy Emerson of Australia and Erin Weage (husband Troy) of Kelso, Washington; son Eric (wife Susie) of Gastonia, North Carolina; and grandchildren Jake, Kyle, Carly and Audrey. A ‘gathering’ for Don was held in Hayden Lake, and another will be held in the future in Palm Desert.
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