Rev. Donald R. Piper

Donald R. Piper, 91, passed away peacefully at home in Vienna, Virginia, surrounded by his family on Friday, July 28, 2023. He is survived by Joan, his wife of 66 years; Stephen, his son and his husband, Josel Suarez; and Kent, his son and his wife Tammy and grandsons Ben and Will. Don was born in Webster City, Iowa on January 18, 1932.

Don was an ordained Lutheran minister, having graduated from Carthage College and Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary, and was also a clinically trained hospital chaplain certified by the College of Chaplains. He served much of his professional life with Lutheran Social Services of Washington DC, ministering to the hospitalized, imprisoned or those set apart from society due to drugs, AIDS, homelessness, etc. He organized volunteer chaplaincy programs in many of the institutions he visited, multiplying his own personal ministry manyfold. He was on the Board of Fellowship Square, bringing affordable housing to the Reston area, thereby carrying out the vision of its founder, Robert Simon. In 1975, he was called to head up the Lutheran Immigration Refugee Service mid Atlantic area resettlement of refugees from Southeast Asia after the fall of Saigon. This required organizing hundreds of congregations and their volunteers to provide food, shelter, school enrollments, job searches, and language education to ensure successful adjustment to a much different culture and the eventual path to citizenship. The last five years of his ministry, he served as pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Takoma Park, Maryland.

Don loved gathering around the big round kitchen table, enjoying nightly meals with the family as well as impromptu or planned gatherings with friends and colleagues that went on for hours. He made sure the family took at least one vacation every year, camping in their VW bus all over New England, Canada and the midwest, enjoying planned (and some unplanned) adventures. He meticulously maintained the family home on Big Rock Road, doing most of the repairs, maintenance and gardening himself. He was a good husband and dad and always patient. He was involved with Steve and Kent’s activities… except when the “Redskins” were playing. He enjoyed painting for pleasure, producing hundreds of small paintings of places both visited and imagined.

A Celebration of his Life and ministry will be held at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 2589 Chain Bridge Road, Vienna, Virginia 22182 on Saturday, August 26th at 11 AM, followed by lunch and time to visit with the family.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Don’s memory may be made to Meals on Wheels of America (https://www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org/) or So Other Might Eat (https://some.org/).