Dr. C. Donald Walley, 94

January 06, 2018

It is with great sadness as the loving family of Dr. C. Donald Walley, 94, of Willow Valley in Lancaster, announces his passing of natural causes on January 6, 2018. Donald was born on January 20, 1923 in Reading, son of the late Carl H. and Jeanette (Hoover) Walley.
Don served in the US Army Air Corps for two tours in the early 1940’s, enlisted as a Private and returning to his second tour as a Captain and Dentist.
Don graduated from the Albright University and the Pennsylvania University. Don lovingly married Geraldine Ellen Harrison in 1948 at the Holy Cross Methodist Church in Reading. For 65 years, they lived throughout the United States before settling in Central Pennsylvania. Don leaves behind two daughters, Lynn R. Vastyan and husband Peter H. of Hershey, Jodie W. Gillis and her husband Gary H. of Pittsburgh, son Brent C. Walley and his wife Penny L. of Mt. Gretna, nine grandchildren – Jessica Callahan and her husband John, Peter Michael Vastyan and his wife Corey, Julie Goolsby and her husband Laurence, Nate Gillis and his wife Rhiannon, Erica Schoenly and her husband Reed, Kaitlin Walley, Britton Walley, Jennifer Brooks and her husband Ronald, Matt Walley, and almost seventeen great-grandchildren – Kennedy, Finnegan, Zoey, Addison, Kole, Gavin, Nash, Layla, Gabriel, Jayden, Myia, Marshall, Kiersta, Cody, Violet, Olivia and one on the way…
Don’s deep baritone voice resonated through the great halls, as he followed his passion for the beautiful musical classics; whether singing around the house or performing in shows. He enjoyed his weekly golf games with his buddies. Don was president of the Palmyra Rotary Club, and a lifetime member of the Rajah Shrine. Don practiced dentistry for 45 years, last in Palmyra, and he volunteered his dental services at Milton Hershey Schools. Don was an amazing man who set the best examples for three generations by being selfless, caring, fun-loving, intelligent, witty, and by putting family above all else. Having an enormous sense of humor, he lived by the motto, “Ya gotta have humor!”
Services in memory of Don will be held 11:00 AM Friday, January 12, 2018, at the Charles F. Snyder Funeral Home, 414 East King St., Lancaster PA 17602, 717-393-9661. Visitation will be from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, Friday. Interment will follow in the family plot at Laureldale Cemetery – Rhoads Memorial. 4631 Pottsville Pike, Reading, PA 19605. Those who desire may make memorial donations in memory of Don to the Shriners Hospitals for Children, www.shrinershospitalsforchildren.org.