Donald Patrick Illig, Jr.

Donald was born on September 3, 1951. He moved from Johnstown, PA to Lynchburg, VA in 2020 and bravely battled Cancer for nearly six years. He passed peacefully into the arms of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ at Centra Lynchburg General Hospital on May 11, 2026.

Donald Is survived by his wife of nearly 42 years, Charlotte (Finnigan) Illig, Son, Daniel F Lees IV, Daniel’s wife, Jiumei, and daughter, Alyssa; Daughter, Deanne M (Illig) Townshend, her husband, Doug, and son, Caleb. As well as his two brothers-in law, Reed and Scott, and nieces and nephews in Phillipsburg, Clearfield, and Johnstown. He is also survived by his brother, Robert P. Illig of Petersburg, WV, and niece and nephews in Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina.

Donald was preceded in death, by his parents and grandparents, his sister, Carolyn (Illig) Watts, brother, Richard Illig, and infant grandson, Patrick Townshend.

Donald was a graduate of St Benedict’s School and Bishop McCort High School. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, with a degree in Mathematics and 5 minors.

He was a longtime member of Westmont Baptist Church, Johnstown, PA, where he served as a Trustee, an Adult Sunday School Teacher, and a leader for the Trek and Journey AWANA programs.

In accordance with his wishes, he is interred in the Westview Chapel Mausoleum at Grandview Cemetery, Johnstown, PA.

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His life is best expressed in the Eulogy written by his daughter, Deanne, below:

Most people who knew my dad saw a quiet, stoic man. Intelligent, serious, well-spoken and reserved. And that’s who he wanted to be and wanted people to see. But I was really lucky because I got to see all of who he was

[Funny]

My dad was the funniest person in the world to me. He had a weird sense of humor that not a lot of people understood, but we had that in common. There were times my dad and I would be laughing hysterically, crying, no sound coming out and other people would just be staring at us like we were insane. We had hundreds of inside jokes and strange sayings; he loved to send me funny cards for literally any occasion. My favorite was one for Halloween: it said we didn’t need to prepare for Halloween because the most important thing was already done: we were weird. He sent it to me my Freshman year of college in a care package filled with Halloween treats for me and my friends; and I laughed so hard and loved it so much he went back to the store and bought all of those cards so he could send me one every year.

[Learning]

It wasn’t just our weird humor that we had in common, but my dad also loved to learn. He wanted to know about everything and anything. While working his way through his degree in Math, he ended up with five minors in random areas like geology, English, and astronomy. He studied his Bible every day for an hour, and always asked insightful and interesting questions about theology and philosophy. Whatever I was reading about or interested in or just learning about in school, he would brush up and do a little research – which was much harder in a world without Google. He was so happy when my parents got their Alexa – he would literally ask dozens of questions a day about random thoughts or topics. Sometimes he would argue with Alexa, but he was always interested in learning as much information as he could

[Stubborn]

Dad was really stubborn. He loved an argument, and he loved playing devil’s advocate. I have been told that when I was two, I argued with my parents about what pajamas I had to wear. Apparently, he was so proud of me for debating them and thought I would make a great lawyer. He had his schedule and his way of doing things, and God help us all if something didn’t go to plan. I remember a few times in middle school and high school where the morning paper didn’t come on time, and my dad would just stand by the front door pacing and watching for the paper boy because it ruined his whole morning to not be able to read his paper on time. I think the best example is that we were told to only expect 3 and a half months with him and he stretched it out to 3 and a half years

[Competitive]

My dad was so competitive. When I was 4 he refused to play Chutes and Ladders with me because it was a luck-based game instead of a skill-based game. Well that, and he kept losing. He taught me checkers, chess, Stratego, cards, dice; he never let me win. He wanted me to earn the win. He talked to me about how to think through things, how to plan ahead, how to strategize and come up with creative solutions – all things that carried over to so many parts of everyday life. We would watch Jeopardy together and count how many answers we each got; we watched Wheel of Fortune, too, but mom always destroyed us at that. In high school we played foosball, and he kept a running tally of all our games; we would play best out of 100. Once I got to college, he learned how to play the board games I would play with my friends. A few years ago, he even learned how to play Dungeons & Dragons because Caleb wanted him to play with him.

[The Little Things]

Dad was always concerned about the little things. He always had extra school supplies on hand in case I needed something in the middle of the school year. He loved saying, “I think I have one” any time mom or I needed anything. He would even keep a stash of candy bars of all different types on hand in case a craving hit me or my mom and we needed specific chocolate that day. When I started driving, he taught me how to change a tire and check the oil and all the things I might need to know; he made sure I had an emergency box with all the tools, and some cat litter for when it snowed. We used to joke that we didn’t have to prep for Y2K because Dad already had supplies and everything we might need on hand.

He never missed anything I was ever in. He was at every performance, every play or musical; even if he was working, he found a way to be there. Granted, he would make funny faces at me from the audience and try to get me to laugh; eventually he wasn’t even allowed to look in my direction and sometimes had to hold the program in front of his face because we would both start laughing just thinking about him making a face at me. He kept every drawing or piece of art I ever made for him. On Sunday while I was with him at the hospital, he noticed I had new glasses and told me he liked them. He knew that Caleb was getting to tour the middle school this week. He knew it was payroll week for my mom and asked about how Doug was doing after being sick. He understood that all those little things are actually a big part of life.

My dad taught me a lot of things. He taught me to drive, he taught me about math and physics and literature, he taught me how to build and measure, to paint, to crochet, to cook and bake. He taught me to never stop learning, to never apologize for being the best at something, and to never back down if you know you are right. But out of all the things he taught me, I think the most important was to remember the little things. To not take all those tiny pieces of life for granted.

A Celebration of Life will be held at North Bedford Baptist Church on Saturday, May 16, 2026 at 11:30 AM.

Tharp Funeral Home & Crematory, Lynchburg, is assisting the family.