DONNIE EHEART

ABATE Workhorse Donnie Eheart  Gone at Age 51

At any given time, there are hundreds of thousands of organizations all over the United States that do civic and charitable work all through the year.  And as anyone in those organizations can tell you, it's hard to get people to help or get involved in the simplest way.  Whether the organization is political, religion or ethnically based, usually the same ten or fifiteen people do the brunt of the work.  That is only part of why Don Eheart age 51 will be missed so much.  Donnie, a beloved family man, with 9 kids (5 girls - 4 boys) and 18 Grandkids, always showed a keen soft spot for children.  As wife Diane can relate, when a Santa Claus was needed for the Hubbard Trail ABATE Toy giveaways at the Nexus home for abused children, Donnie eagerly stepped up to the plate.  According to Diane, "Playing Santa was one of Donnie's favorite times."  Joining ABATE 6/30/99, Donnie jumped in head first by being elected as Hubbard Trail's Secretary.  His love for motorcycling defined his easy going, humorous personality.  The couple married in 1988 in Henderson Kentucky.  During that time he still wore bell-bottom "plaid" pants and a shirt that didn't match.  His family demanded he'd get rid of them, and he finally did.  According to family members, Donnie also loved to dance 'even thought he didn't know how' "like most of us."  Holding other ABATE offices like Legislative Coordinator, State Rep and Activities Director, kept him a very busy man in the arena of motorcyle rights.  As a motorcylcle enthusiast he retired from the Iroquois Chiefs Motorcycle Club, but not before he volunteered to be in a dunk tank at the Chief's Bike show.  Onlookers and friends marveled at the site of Donnie splashing into the frigid tank, his teeth flying out of his mouth and Donnie swimming to the bottom after them! Riding was his passion and as friend Andy Snapp of Kankakee tells, "Donnie and me once road about 65 miles just to get a special chicken sandwich."  Driving a truck for a living made for a hard life, but a good life and he liked driving too.  And whether Donnie was showing off his new colors when he joined the Stone Cold Motorcycle Club, or when he road down to Rankin to join ABATE  members on a camp-out, "With his tent and enough stuff strapped across his bike to look like the Beverly Hillbillies," you could always count on him to give you a laugh.  That was Donnie, a selfless man with a big heart full of laughs.  We all know someone like him, but those kinds of people can't be replaced.  They're the ones that make things happen, not the talkers, but the doers. ABATE workhorse, Donnie Eheart age 51, gone, but never forgotten written by Roland "Bogie" Boguszewski    Public Relations Director of Hubbard Trail ABATE

To Chapter Main Page