Donald M. Landes, Lee’s Summit, Missouri, 85, passed away peacefully on June 7, 2017. Memorial service 3 p.m., Tuesday, June 13, 2017, at Country Club Christian Church, 6101 Ward Parkway, KC, MO 64113.

Burial is private. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Don’s memory can be made to St. Luke’s Hospice House (saintlukesgiving.org/page.aspx?pid=794; 4225 Baltimore Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64111) or Friends of Lakeside Nature Center (www.lakesidenaturecenter.org/donations.html; 4701 E. Gregory Blvd., Kansas City, Missouri 64132) of Kansas City.

Don was born in Freeport, Illinois, on July 19, 1931, the son of Donald Edward Landes and Beryl McCrea Landes and grew up in Chicago. His family moved to the Kansas City area in 1945 and he graduated from Wyandotte High School in 1948.

After serving in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean conflict, he graduated from the University of Kansas in 1956 with a BS in Journalism. He began his professional career as a reporter and Sunday editor of the Great Bend Kansas Daily Tribune. He later was editor and publisher of community newspapers owned by the Tribune in the Wichita, Kansas, area. Don shifted careers in 1959 moving to Armco Steel Corporation as supervisor of public relations for steelmaking and manufacturing operations in Kansas City, Sand Springs, Oklahoma, and Houston, Texas. In 1964, he joined Kansas City Power & Light Company where he was vice president of communications, retiring in 1987 after 24 years. That year he joined Heart of America United Way as group vice president for public and volunteer relations. He retired a second time in 1994 to form his own marketing and public relations consulting firm. He was accredited in public relations (APR) by the Public Relations Society of America and was named professional of the year in 1987 by the Kansas City chapter. In his many years of volunteer service, Don was president of the board of the Rehabilitation Institute, chairman of the board of the Midwest Christian Counseling Center, vice chairman of the board of Heart of America United Way before joining the professional staff, and founding board member of the Kansas City Eye Bank. He was an active member of Country Club Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and a former member of Second Presbyterian Church in Kansas City.

Don shared many gifts with his family and friends. He loved to travel and introduced his family to this love of exploration, especially in the Canadian Rockies and the Pacific Northwest; he was captivated by nature, wild birds, fishing, and wilderness; he had a great fondness for the arts, particularly jazz and classical music and the theatre; and, he enjoyed photography and has left a legacy of images for his family as a memory of the way he saw them and the world. In his later years, his creativity led him to build picture frames using antique barn and fence wood, which he used to highlight his wife Cheryl’s fine art photography.

Don is remembered for his booming voice, his bigger than life character, his love and fondness for people, his extraordinary sense of humor and wit, and the gentle wisdom that he bestowed without judgment to anyone who sought his council.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Donald E. and Beryl McCrea Landes, and his wife of 37 years, Beverly Harvey Landes.

He is survived by his wife, Cheryl Fouse Landes, of the home; five daughters: Karen Sage of Liberty, Missouri; Heather Landes and her husband Mike Kocour of Mesa, Arizona; Margo and her husband Glenn Simon of Lee’s Summit, Missouri; Marcia and her husband Kevin Minkoff of Prairie Village, Kansas, and Marya and her husband Shawn Jones of Paola, Kansas; eleven grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren; and a sister: Barbara Hallisey of Palm Springs, California