Donald Aladar Oliver Maylath

Donald Aladar Oliver Maylath passed away peacefully at the age of 91 on January 27, 2025. Don was born on December 9, 1933 in Granite City, Illinois to the late Oliver A. and Mary (Petesh) Maylath.

Don received a B.S. from the University of Illinois in 1955 where he was also in the Chi Psi Fraternity and a member of the Alumni Association and the Presidents Council; a graduate study in business at St. Louis University and received an MBA from the University of Minnesota.

After college Don entered the US Army. He worked in the transportation Corp in Orleans, France from 1956-1958, where his eldest daughter, Pamela was born. Upon returning home to Granite City in 1958, son, Mark was born. Many years later in 2014, Don and Pam traveled back to her birthplace in France and also visited Budapest and Hungary.

Once back home, Don joined the Bemis company in St. Louis, MO, where he began his work in advertising, public relations, then marketing research, new product research and lastly, the pricing dept. in the firm’s headquarters in Minneapolis, MN. He was there for 10 years and daughter Carol was born in 1965.

Moving forward in marketing, Don went to work for Miles Laboratories Inc. in November of 1968 at its Union Division operation in Granite City, IL. While there, he worked as marketing services manager. He transferred to Elkhart, IN in 1971 where he continued working in marketing research, marketing services, new product development, brand manager for citric acid and retired in 1996 as director of logistics following the sale of Miles Labs to Bayer GMGH.

Always keeping busy, Don opened and operated a consulting firm where he ended up working at Chipco, Inc., in Elkhart as their business consultant. He left the company when it sold and moved to Grand Rapids, MI.

After moving to Elkhart, Don discovered skiing and was an active board member for more that 25 years. He loved traveling with the club to many ski venues in the US, Canada and Europe. He utilized these trips to enjoy extended sightseeing tours of the many cities, regions and countries in Europe.

Don also spent his time as a member of St. Pius X Catholic Church where he also served as Minister of Hospitality for over 30 years. He joined Friends of Granger Path to raise money from businesses and the local community for the annual FGP 5k Race to acquire matching funds to construct a series of pathways throughout Granger. He was an active advisory board member until his passing. He was a member of the South Bend Symphony for more than 40 years and season ticket holder. Don was a member of the Michiana Illini Club, American Marketing Association and the St. Joseph Co. Notre Dame Club.

He preferred spending weekends traveling to Champagne, IL to attend Illinois Football and Basketball games. Don also held season tickets with the St. Louis Rams for 20 years, and went to many games with friends and family.

Back at home, Don loved caring for his garden and sharing the fruits of his labor with neighbors and family.

Don was fond of traveling the world. He traveled extensively on ocean cruises, many organized land tours in Alaska, Canada and Europe and extensively into the US by auto, where he dedicated at least two weeks a year touring different states. Don was accompanied on many of his adventures by his beloved companion, Lois Ferrere, with whom he met at Niedringhaus Elementary School in Granite City. They both married and lost their spouses. They met again at the Granite City 50th class reunion and established a relationship. She currently resides in Scottsdale, AZ.

 Don lived a remarkable life and will be missed by his beloved children, Pamela (George) Svadeba, Mark (Kim) Maylath and Carol (Chip) Estep; grandchildren, Brooke McCreary, Erica Estep, Evan (Jessica) Estep, Shannon Maylath and Dr. Jeremy Maylath; other relation, Lynette Sphar, John Petish III and Heather Pollmann.

Don is preceded in death by his sister, Elsie Maylath; and his children’s mother, Delores Heyvaert.

 Visitation with family and friends will be held on Thursday, January 30, 2025 at the McGann Hay, Granger Chapel, 13260 SR 23, Granger, IN, entrance off Cherry Rd., from 4-7 p.m.

A Mass of Christian Burial will take place on Friday, January 31, 2025 at St. Pius X Catholic Church, 52553 N. Fir Rd., Granger, IN, at 10:30 a.m. and visitation beginning one-hour prior.

The Mass will be live streamed at www.youtube.com/@stpiusgranger.

www.youtube.com/@stpiusgranger

 Don will be cremated and burial will take place at Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Illinois at a later date.

 In place of flowers, please consider a donation to the American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association, or Traditions Hospice.