First Posted: 2/3/2013

Donald E. Lunger, Whites Ferry Road, Falls, passed away at home on Monday, Jan. 28.

He was born in Benton Township, Columbia County, on June 27, 1924. He was a son of the late Furman and Mary Edwards Lunger.

He attended Benton High School and served with the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II.

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For many years he worked for the American Breeder Service, breeding cows in Wyoming, Bradford and Susquehanna counties. He retired in 1990 from the AAA Motor Club of Scranton.

Don enjoyed playing baseball and played on an AA baseball team in the Allentown area before moving to Wyoming County. For many years he served as a Little League and teener coach for the Christie Mathewson Little League. He was an avid bowler, bowling in many local leagues.

Don was a member of the Black Walnut Legion Post 510 and the Lake Winola United Methodist Church, where he served as Sunday school teacher and helped with the preparation of their annual venison dinner. He was an active member in the Tunkhannock Kiwanis Club and was one of the main organizers for the Kiwanis Wyoming County Fair in 1986. Don was the longest-standing chair of the agricultural area for the fair. He was the recipient of the Kiwanis International Hixson Award in 2001 and in the Tunkhannock Area Middle School Builders Club Community Service Award in 1999.

He was an avid Phillies fan and enjoyed golfing with family and friends. In particular, he loved his garden and was very proud of how it looked. Don enjoyed the time he spent with his grandchildren as they participated in horseback-riding events and other sports.

Don was preceded in death by brothers, Vernon and James Lunger; and sisters Marguerite Roberts and Dorothy Heinrich.

Surviving is his wife of 64 years, Emilie Kerlin Lunger; a son, Edward Lunger, Tunkhannock; daughter, Judy Johnson, Falls; grandchildren, Amy Yuhas and husband George, Falls, and Melissa Harvey, Los Angeles, Calif.; great-grandchildren, Courtney Garrett and Olivia Yuhas; brothers, Robert and wife Jane, Dalton; Leo and wife Evelyn, Shrewsbury, Pa., and Furman and wife Dorothy, Springville; and a sister, Annabelle Sands, Tunkhannock.

Funeral services were on Friday, Feb. 1, 2013, from the Lake Winola United Methodist Church with the Rev. Joan Dodson officiating. Interment was in Chapel Lawn Cemetery in Dallas. Arrangements were by the Sheldon-Kukuchka Funeral Home, 73 W. Tioga St., Tunkhannock.

Those wishing may make memorial contributions to the Tunkhannock Kiwanis Most Improved Student of the Year award, P.O. Box 419, Tunkhannock, PA 18657. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.sheldonkukuchkafuneralhome.com.