Birth Date: Tuesday, September 23, 1930

Birth Place: West Haven, Connecticut

Bio: When Donald Joseph Lloyd was born on September 23, 1930, in West Haven, Connecticut, his father, Fred, was 23 and his mother, Mary, was 25. He married Helen Anna Kmiecik on May 14, 1953, in Ghent, New York. They had four children in 12 years. Donald Joseph Lloyd was born on September 23rd, 1930 to Fred Lloyd and Mary Stucinsky in New Haven, Connecticut. He lived in New Haven and Hartford, CT before moving to Westfield, Massachusetts where he graduated from Westfield High School. Donald Lloyd married Helen Anna Kmiecik, whom had grown up in Blandford, Massachusetts and attended Westfield High School. After graduating he enlisted in the Air Force and served time in the Korean War, though all of his time was served in the states. He was on the Air Force Wrestling team for a portion of his enlistment. He began a career with Hamilton Standard as an aeronautical engineer. He spent his time working on space gear. A lot of his time was spent working on the back pack for N.A.S.A. astronauts for the lunar missions. In 1969 Donald and his family, now consisting of four children, Norman, Gary, Catherine, and Debbie, moved to Texas so he could work at N.A.S.A's Johnson Space Center. Unfortunately, N.A.S.A's lunar program ended in 1972. Donald tried to find other aeronautical engineering work in Texas, but there was none to be found. He even attended a heating and cooling job training program with the thought of changing careers. However, having a family to support prevented him from pursuing this new interest and he accepted a transfer back to the Hamilton Standard facility in Connecticut. The family had come to love Texas, and they all thought a job would be found in the Texas area, so Helen and the kids stayed in Texas for 6 months before joining Donald in Connecticut. In 1975, for health reasons, Donald began jogging and developed a love for running. He began running relays and soon marathons. Donald ran in any marathon that came his way, including the Boston and New York marathons. He served as president of the Hartford track club. Donald also loved public speaking. He was a multi-term President of the Hamilton Standard Toastmaster Club. He also won many of the Toastmaster Humorous Speech contests. In 1991, Donald Lloyd was diagnosed with aggressive Prostate Cancer and was given approximately one year to live. On March 9th, 1993, two years later, he watched his oldest daughter, Catherine Walton, give birth to her first child and his first granddaughter, Taylor Rose Walton. It wasn't until June of 1993 that Donald's family learned of his cancer. He had beaten all odds and lived to see his granddaughter be born. On October 28th, 1997 Donald Lloyd lost his battle to cancer. He fought 6 years longer than what the doctors had given him and spent most of his last years helping care for his granddaughter, Taylor Rose Walton. And he never lost his love for running. He continued to run almost 5 miles every day until the week before his death. To this day The Celebrate West Hartford 5K Road Race gives out a Grandmaster Trophy, which is named in honor of him. I will never forget my "Pop-pop". He died on October 28, 1997, in Farmington, Connecticut, at the age of 67, and was buried in Westfield, Massachusetts.

Death Date: Tuesday, October 28, 1997

Death Place: Farmington, Connecticut

Father: Fred W Lloyd

Mother: Mary Lloyd (Stuczynski)

Wife: Helen Anna Lloyd (Kmiecik)

Daughter: Catherine Ann Walton (Lloyd) (1962)

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