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Conklin man, 89, had deep faith and never worked a job he 'didn't like'

Maggie Gilroy
Donald Major, 89, died on Feb. 22.

It wasn't unusual to catch Donald Major trimming his lawn with a pair of scissors.

Every minute of Donald's sparse free time was spent working on his home and grooming his meticulously kept lawn.

"He's on his hands and knees digging dandelions out," Donald's wife, Catherine Major remembers.

Donald, whom friends and family knew simply as Don, was a perfectionist.

He had about 20 shrubs in his lawn. By the time he finished trimming them, they looked as even as chairs.

"If you ever had a chance to see a shrub or bush after Don had trimmed it, it looked like a piece of furniture," said Robert Young, Don's nephew through marriage. "Straight, sharp corners and always so even that you could set up dishes on the trim top surfaces."

Donald Major, of Conklin, had a passion for the outdoors.

It's this eye for detail and strong work ethic that allowed the long-time Conklin resident to support his family through multiple career paths. 

"It was always a privilege to work with him as he was so careful and so precise," Young said. "When he was through with a job, there was never a need to adjust or make corrections. His jobs were always complete."

Don died on Feb. 22. He was 89.

He leaves behind a strong faith, devotion to his family and a fierce work ethic in numerous jobs.

Nearly seven decades of marriage 

Donald and Catherine Major's marriage lasted for 69 years.

Catherine attended First Baptist Church in Hallstead, Pa., from the time she was 5 or 6.

When they were teenagers, Don began attending the church.

The couple was among a group of young people who attended a basketball game together. Don offered to drive to the game, and a girl he planned to attend the game with invited Catherine to ride along with them.

Donald Major is survived by Catherine Major, his wife of 69 years.

"So, while she played basketball, he was talking to me and he asked me if I wanted to go on a date with him," Catherine said. 

The girl who Don planned to attend the game with married a different guy. And Don and Catherine dated for about a year and a half before they married in 1948. 

"He had a gentle way of trying to keep order and keep things calm," Catherine said. "That's why I think it was an easy 69 years. We agreed to agree."

After moving to Conklin, they continued to attend the First Baptist Church so their kids could be around their friends. 

Catherine remembers Don as a "great" husband who supported her during nine joint surgeries. 

"You couldn't ask for a better nurse," she said.

Don maintained the balance between disciplining their four children and keeping a level of calm in the family. 

When he left to work at night, Catherine remembers, Don instructed their children to put their toys away before he got back.

Donald and Catherine Major were married for 69 years.

"Because if you don't, when I come home, I'll get you up and you'll put them away," Catherine recalls Don instructing the children.

It worked.

"They didn't want to get up in the night," Catherine said. "So, he had rules and regulations but he was very considerate in his way of approaching it and carrying it out so that we didn't have a lot of turmoil at all, like some families do have. It was a pretty calm family."

Soft spoken, Don seldom raised his voice to friends or family.

"He had a way about him, he didn't need to," Catherine said.

Don's nephew, Jim Major, said Don was the only person who ever believed in him. 

"In a lot of ways, he was more than just an uncle to me," Jim said. "He was like a father to me."

When Jim was in danger of losing his family farm, Don tried to save the farm by backing it financially. 

Donald Major (front) drives his motorcycle with his daughter Susan (middle) and son Steve (back) long before the days helmets were required.

Jim has clear memories of Don's old motorcycle, a 1902 Indian. 

Recently, Jim tracked down the motorcycle and discovered it at the Wheels Through Time Motorcycle Museum in Maggie Valley, North Carolina. The motorcycle has been restored and is on display at the museum. 

"I can remember him giving us kids rides on the motorcycle," Jim said. "That was pretty cool back then."

Donald Major sits alongside his brother, Fred Major.

Susan Major, Don's daughter, also remembers riding the motorcycle as a child.

"Those were the days when helmets weren’t required," Susan said in an email.

Sandwiched between Don and her brother, Steve, Susan would often fall asleep on the motorcycle while her brother held on to her.

"In general, he was a great husband and a great father to these kids. So, I couldn't have asked for better," Catherine said. "And I'm thankful every day for it." 

A devotion to his faith

Don's faith led him to becoming a deacon for many years at the First Baptist Church, where he attended for 65 years.

"I think that also kept harmony in our household, because we both did [have a strong faith]," Catherine said. "Or, I still do."

Don joined the First Baptist Church in the 1950s when Young was just 10 years old. 

"He was a dedicated worker in the church, putting his abilities and skills in many projects such as building, painting and trimming shrubs," Young said. 

Donald Major, of Conklin, died on Feb. 22 at the age of 89.

Quiet but thoughtful, Don was always kind to everyone but never stood out.

"He wouldn't dominate things. He wouldn't be the life of anything like that,' Young said. "But when he would make remarks, it was always very very thoughtful, very sound. You know there was good judgement and good knowledge behind the things that he would say."

Young and his wife, Mary, often met the Majors for fellowship or went skiing together. 

"He was a good example to us," Mary said. 

Don managed even succeeded in convincing his longtime friend, William Moore, to start attending church.

"I still do that," Moore said. 

Don and Catherine worked as a team, always taking their family to church together.

"Uncle Don was an example to us in his faithfulness to God and to his family," Robert and Mary Young said. 

A love for the Outdoors

Moore met Don while working for the railroad when Don was transferred to the East Binghamton yard office in 1946.

"In all those years, we spent lots of time together," Moore said. 

The pair bonded over their shared love for hiking and hunting. Moore, who said Don was "above average" in any task he completed, considers Don to be his role model.

"I could never achieve what he did in credibility, but I tried," Moore said. "He was a super guy."

Donald Major, 89, died on Feb. 22.

Together, the pair went on numerous hiking and deer hunting trips in Pennsylvania, Upstate New York, the Adirondacks and Wyoming. 

During one trip to the Adirondacks, Don and Moore split up and agreed to meet on a mountaintop and compare notes of their trip.

While Don was hiking on his own, he came across the body of a missing hiker.

Dwight Jennings, Donald Major and Maurice Jennings display their catches from a fishing trip.

Don was able to mark the path and notify the authorities. The following day, he showed the body to the authorities.

"Nobody ever gave him credit for reporting that find," Moore said. "But he wasn't looking for it."

A strong work ethic

Don and Catherine moved from Pennsylvania to Conklin in October of 1951 to allow Don to take a job with the Erie Lackawanna Railroad.

Don worked as a tower operator and then as a dispatcher for the railroad for 23 years. 

His obituary describes him as "the last in a lineage of railroad men." 

Don excelled at the railroad, Moore said, and was frequently promoted. 

Donald Major rides a tractor along with his great granson, Carmine.

Don worked many nights on the railroad and had trouble sleeping during the day, so he decided to take a new career path. 

But the decision was not an easy one.

"He said to give up the railroad was like taking candy away from a baby," Catherine said. "He loved it."

After leaving the railroad, Don opened the Conklin Carwash along with Moore. They ran the carwash for 40 years.

They also owned apartments above the car wash that they rented out to others. The apartments remained open after the car wash closed. 

"It was a nice brick building and not just the average kind of car wash," Catherine said. 

Donald Major owned and operated the Conklin Carwash.

After closing the car wash, Don purchased a tractor, two trailers and a dump truck and started his own trucking company. 

Don worked early mornings, but always made sure he was home in the afternoon or evenings.

"He wanted to be home," Catherine said. "Because he said 'that's why I have a nice home, that's why we have a home. That's why we have family.'"

Donald Major was known for his meticulously kept home and yard.

At one time, Don worked part-time for a driving simulator company and drove a Winnebago that contained a classroom for the driving simulators. Don toured the country to demonstrate the simulator to potential customers such as fire companies, policemen or schools.

Since their children were grown, Don said he would only accept the job if Catherine could travel along with him. Together, they worked as a team to drive the Winnebago around the country.

"It was a very nice vacation," Catherine said.

Donald Major, 89, died on Feb. 22.

The couple left for weeks at a time, traveling to nearly every state in the country as well as Mexico and Canada.

"That was pretty interesting," Catherine said. 

One day, Don told Catherine, "I never had a job that I didn't like."

"And, at that time when jobs were more plentiful, he said 'I've never had a job that I couldn't go back to,'" Catherine said. "In other words, if he left for something different he didn't leave because he had to leave."

Life was not always easy for Don, Jim said, remembering his uncle's strong work ethic. 

But Don always kept hope and made time for others. 

"He always had time for all of us," Catherine said. "He had time even though he was a worker."

Donald is survived by his loving wife of 69 years, Catherine Major; a son, Stephen (Deborah) Major, Susquehanna, PA; daughters, Marlene (Dale) Osman, Shirley (Gary) Wills, and Susan (Glen) Major, all of Binghamton, NY; eleven grandchildren; 16 babies who call him great; and many nieces and nephews.

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