Donald Tracy Laird was born and raised in Birmingham, Michigan. He completed his higher education at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he received a bachelors and two masters degrees, one in anthropology and one in French language and literature, and a PhD in Political Science, focusing on international relations. During his doctoral studies, Donald was aided by a U.S. National Foreign Language Scholarship to study the Indonesian-Malay language. After he finished his PhD, for a while, he taught political science at several colleges in Michigan, until he received a Fulbright-Hays Visiting Professorship in Political Science at Mindanao State University in the Philippines. He subsequently conducted research at the Asia Center of the University of the Philippines. After returning from the Philippines, Donald then left college teaching, and moved to Washington, DC. There he worked in the international programs of the Office of the Chief of the Naval Operations, the National Science Foundation, the General Accounting Office, and finally the Department of the Army. In 1981, Donald's final move was to Honolulu, where he worked for several years in the U.S. Army's international program of exchanges and exercises with the armies of over 40 Asian-Pacific countries. He was able to travel widely in this position, from Madagascar to Korea to Australia. Donald retired from the Federal Service in Hawaii. Thereafter, he enjoyed his retirement participating actively in several community organizations, including the French and Scottish groups, the China Seminar, as well as the Adventurers Club of Hawaii. Donald Tracy Laird passed away in Honolulu, among friends and family, on November 15, 2020. He was 82 years old. Donald followed the death of his late wife Pamela, and is survived by numerous nephews and nieces on the mainland. He wished that no funeral nor memorial event be celebrated in his honor. Donald wished his remains to be cremated and his ashes be scattered in Waikiki Bay. Arrangements Provided By:
Hawaiian Memorial Park Mortuary
