Obituary

Donald S. Chakas passed away November 11, 2015. He was born in St Charles, IL. on August 29, 1930 to Stanley and Edith Chakas.

Donald joined Caterpillar in 1952 as a “hooker” on a boom crane at Joliet, IL. He went to night school in transportation and regulatory law and transferred to General Offices in Peoria, IL.  He became the Supervisor of International Distribution and worked on the Industry side of developing containerization for intermodal distribution.  Donald was an appointed member of “International Standards Organization” working with ocean carriers.  He also was appointed to their steering committee of the Containerization and Intermodal Institute.  Later served as President and then Chairman of that organization and remained on the Board of Directors until 1992. 

In 1969, he joined a consortium made up of Cunard/Port Line, Blue Star Line, Ellermann Lines and the Australian National Line to build and operate container ships in the North American/Australia & New Zealand trades.  A new company was formed, “Associated Container Transportation, operating as Pacific America Container Express (PACE Line) which was named by daughter, Patty. Donald was also appointed Executive Vice President and General Manager in 1982, with offices in the World Trade Center in New York.  ACT operated 8 owned vessels, plus additional charters in this trade.  Donald retired in 1991 and moved to Bellingham, WA. 

Donald was strong willed, generous, intelligent, and engaging. He enjoyed going for drives and checking the Bellingham Harbor for ships, attending theatre/symphony events, cheering on his favorite teams, going on family outings, sharing stories, doting on his great grandchildren, giving active support to all he knew, reminiscing about his late wife Dolly, fishing, sharing good food with his friends and family. He was also very up-to-date, largely due to his passion for the stock market and daily news.

Don will be greatly missed by his family and friends. He is survived by son-in-law Glendon Scott and wife Marilyn McGarry; grandchildren Stewart Scott and wife Angela Polifroni, Greg Scott and wife Christy Scott, Danny Scott and wife Chrissy Ingram, and Jessica Scott; great grandchildren Jacob Scott and Isabel Scott. He was preceded in death by his wife Dolly Chakas; daughter Patricia Ann Scott; siblings Anne Chesney Smith and Marion Chesney.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Tuesday, November 17, 2015 at 2:00 pm at Spring Creek, 223 E. Bakerview Rd, Bellingham, WA. In lieu of flowers, donations may go to the local Diabetes Society, MS Society or charity of your choice.