Mr. Donald Dare French, age 87, died Saturday, April 18, 2015, at Cross Care Center in Jacksonville, Fla. A private memorial service will be held in Mt. Dora. Mr. French was born in Mt. Dora on September 15, 1927. He graduated in 1945 from Mt. Dora High School where he played football and basketball. He enrolled the following year at the University of Florida in Gainesville and while there was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He served in the U. S. Army Signal Corps' cryptography division from 1951 to 1953 in the Korean War and then returned to the University of Florida and graduated in 1954 with a bachelor of science in business administration. He was employed from 1955 to 1973 by Pan American Airways at the Cape Canaveral Missile Range and during this time traveled extensively in Europe, South America, the Orient, New Zealand and Australia. In 1975 he began working in the finance department of the U.S. Postal Service in their bulk mail center in Jacksonville, Fla. He retired from the USPS in 1989. He liked to fish and to play tennis and golf. He cared deeply for all animals, especially cats, and fed several feral cat populations near his home. He was conscientious about spaying and neutering the cats at his own expense. Mr. French is interred in Pine Forest Cemetery in Mt. Dora. He is preceded in death by his parents, A. Lee French and Josephine Marek French, and his brothers, Lee French, Jr. and David French. He is survived by his sister Joanne French Hinton and several nephews and nieces. The family gives special thanks to Mary Kinchen and the staff and nurses at Cross Care Center. Allen J Harden Funeral Home of Mt. Dora is handling the arrangements. In lieu of flowers please donate to the Jacksonville Humane Society in Mr. French's name.