Donald Edwin Treat

Don Treat passed away on April 3, 2024. He was born in Flushing NY, the son of Edwin Phelps Treat and Alice Wright Gazan, and grew up in Port Washington, NY, where he sailed for many years with his parents, brother Steve and sister Pat. He graduated from SUNY Maritime College at Fort Schuyler with a Bachelor of Marine Engineering with Honors, then moved to Schenectady NY to work with GE in their Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory. He received his MS in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute while working for GE. He then accepted a job with Shell Oil Co. (Shell had many coastal locations to provide sailing opportunities), moving to California, Alabama and Texas. Don retired from Shell after 32 years and then worked for Honeywell for 3 years.

Don was a loving, patient and generous husband and father to his children, with whom he loved to share life experiences, and his vast knowledge. Don was brilliant, curious and a life-long learner, who read voraciously, always non-fiction: world history, philosophy, science and Biblical narratives. His love of music, playing the guitar and piano, and listening to many different genres, was a lifelong passion.

Don loved sailing and racing sailboats; camping; hiking; photography, including building his own dark room for printing his black & white photos; hunting; fishing; snow skiing; growing orchids, and especially cooking.

Don was an Eagle Scout and a Scout leader for his sons’ troop. He volunteered at Crossroads at Park Place, a homeless mission, for 15 years and was a Camp Director for U.M. ARMY, a Christcentered mission experience for youth, for many years. He also participated in Prison Ministry in the Houston area.

Left to cherish his memory are his wife Janet Horn, his daughters Donna Cerbu (Steve), Jennifer Garcia (Hector), Laura Pritchard, and sons Daniel Treat and Matthew Treat, his sister Pat Treat, his six grandchildren, his niece and several nephews.

Memorial donations may be directed to Connect Community (https://myconnectcommunity.org/), St. Luke’s UMC (https://stlukesmethodist.org/), Clear Lake UMC (https://www.clearlakemethodist.org/), or the charity of your choice.

As he wished, Don’s family will spread his ashes in the Gulf of Mexico. A memorial service is scheduled on Saturday, June 8, 2024 at 1:00PM in the sanctuary at St. Luke’s UMC, 3471 Westheimer Rd. 77027. For those unable to attend, livestream is available at https://stlukesmethodist.org/don-treat/ .