Donald Francis Toft Jr.
Donald Francis
Toft, Jr., 88, passed from this world on October 18th, 2019. Don was married for 67 years to Joanne Kelly Toft, who was the love of his life and preceded him in September of 2018. He was father to Jim of Midlothian, VA, Bob of Frederick, MD, Kathy of Gettysburg, PA, Tom (deceased), Jackie (deceased) and Don of Moorestown, NJ.
Don grew up in Trenton, NJ and graduated from Trenton Catholic High School. He served in the US Navy on the destroyer USS Meredith as a radar man with his twin brother, Paul. The Meredith had tours in the Pacific, North Atlantic and Mediterranean. He and Joanie raised their family in Morrisville, PA while Don worked at New Jersey Bell Telephone for thirty-four years. Don rose from a pole-climbing line operator, to NJ State Systems Supervisor and, finally, into management and training for the Bell System fiberoptic conversion.
In his second career, Don and Joanie moved to the eastern shore of Maryland, purchased and refurbished a Victorian house and became the gracious proprietors of the Widow’s Walk Inn Bed and Breakfast, which remains a Chestertown centerpiece to this day. Under the grand awning of the Inn’s front porch, or on the patio in Joanie’s garden, they loved entertaining family and friends, especially Don’s twin Paul and his wife Ann (deceased), brother Jerry and wife Pat (deceased) and sister Regina Carroll and husband George, brother-in-law Neal Kelly and wife Barbara, and sister-in-law, Marie Marsh.
Kathy fondly remembers afternoons with Dad in his
Connecticut Moth sailboat on the bay at Stone Harbor as Captain Don, cigar clenched in his teeth, ran aground in low tides, and ordered First Mate Kathy overboard to push the boat off yet another sandbar. Captain Don later graduated to 40 foot sailboats and loved taking his family of landlubbing, mutinous sailors out on the Chesapeake Bay. Good times. Jim recalls each August with Dad sitting in the driveway on Jefferson Avenue, clutching the wheel of an overpacked VW bus bound for Stone Harbor, NJ, laying on the horn and waiting for Mom. Don was a quiet source of support, wisdom and strength for his kids as they navigated the sometimes stormy seas of life. His counsel was much appreciated and will be missed.
In addition to the “kids”, Don is survived by Jim’s wife, Dawn, Bob’s wife, Rachel, Kathy’s husband, Sam and Don’s wife, Terri. ‘PopPop’ loved and had such pride in his grandchildren Caitlin (deceased), Chris and wife Caitlin, Corey and wife Catherine, Danny and wife Hope, Matt (deceased), Jessica, Emily, Patrick, Samantha and great grand-daughters Lillian Janette and Margaret Joanne, and great-grandson, Carter.
A Mass of Christian burial with military honors will be celebrated at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 201 North Pennsylvania Avenue, Morrisville, PA on Saturday, November 16, 2019 at 11:00a. Interment will follow at Holy Trinity Catholic Church Cemetery. To sign the online guestbook and leave condolences go to www.resthaven.us. Arrangements are with Resthaven Funeral Services, Skkot Cody, P.A.