Donald J. Popp

Donald Jerry Popp was born January 17, 1936 and passed away February 6, 2021 at the age of 85. He entered his eternal home surrounded by the love of his family. His parents were Walter William John Popp and Dorena Henriette Reimann of Cape Girardeau, MO.  He was born in Cape Girardeau and attended Trinity Lutheran School, Central High School and Southeast Missouri State University.  He had the privilege of seeing the world during his service in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Sabine as a Third Class Petty Officer-Quartermaster and served during the Suez Canal Crisis in 1956.  He returned to finish his education at Missouri School of Mines (Missouri University of Science and Technology) by receiving his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering.

After his graduation, he moved to Chicago to work at Zenith Radio Corporation in developing the FM stereo radio. While in Chicago, he met and married his wife, Barbara, in 1962. They had their son Tim in 1964 and established several life-long friendships during their time there. He returned to Rolla to teach and complete his Master of Science in Electrical Engineering.  After graduation (1967), he accepted a job offer with McDonnell Aircraft Company (now The Boeing Company) in St. Louis that led to work transitioning military aircraft from the analog world to the digital age. It was at this time that they moved to St. Charles and joined Our Savior Lutheran Church where he served in several volunteer roles including president of the congregation, member of the choir, melodrama director and preschool capital campaign chair. Their daughter Kristen was born in 1971. After working for Boeing for 33 years, he retired after helping to lead the effort to create state-of-the-art digital flight control software and computer hardware systems for multiple versions of the F-15, F/A-18, and the C17 aircraft.

His 20-year retirement was filled with travel, friends, and being a treasured part of the lives of his three grandchildren: Andrew, Aaron and Abigail Popp.

Don was preceded in death by his parents Walter and Dorena, his siblings Kenneth, Stanley, Gene, and a son Andrew.

Visitation will be held at Our Savior Lutheran Church (2800 W. Elm St, St. Charles, MO) beginning at 1:00 pm on Saturday, February 13 with a Memorial service beginning at 2:00 pm.  Due to COVID-19 and for the safety of everyone, all guests are required to wear face coverings while inside the church.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Our Savior Lutheran Church (memo: Preschool Legacy of Love) or Lutheran High School St. Charles (memo: Scholarship Fund).