Florida - Donald R. Beaver, 63, of 550 Okeechobee Blvd, West Palm Beach passed away Wednesday, August 29, 2018 in West Palm Beach.

Born in Shamokin on December 15, 1954, he was the son of the late Donald C. and Joanne B. (Castetter) Beaver.

Donald retired from the federal government December 31, 2017 after 30 years of service; he resided in Harrisburg and commuted to Washington.  Although he relocated to Southern Florida in early 2018, he was a member of the Ashland Historical Society and said his support for local historical preservation in Schuylkill County will not wane.

He was a 1973 graduate of Our Lady of Lourdes Regional High School and the Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport in 1975, where he earned an associate degree in broadcasting. Prior to graduating from Syracuse University he graduated from Bloomsburg University with a degree in political science.  He was a resident advisor and worked in the university's Office of Student Life, He graduated from Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs with a masters degree.  He was a legislative assistant to the late Sen. Edwin G. Holl (R-Montgomery County), ranking Republican senator of the commonwealth's Senate Environmental Resources and Appropriation Committees.  He also provided research and support to the minority Republican leadership to amend the state's antiquated divorce statutes.  Both pieces of legislation were enacted into law.

Donald volunteered for then-Vice President George H.W. Bush in the Office of Scheduling during the Reagan administration, and later began working at the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington.  He worked in public affairs and served as a member of department's Public Affairs Advisory Council.  He also served as co-editor of an OMB quarterly publication promoting the administration's commitment to small and minority business developments, and helped promote the Commerce Department's first-ever Minority Business Trade Mission to Kuwait, in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War.

Beaver helped the department forge public and private sector-led partnerships with IBM, Amwest Surety, banking institutions and the International Franchise Association to foster business development.

Beaver oversaw DOC-funded grant projects in East Los Angeles at the Ron Brown Technology Center, the Mayor's Office of Economic Development in the City of Los Angeles and the University of Southern California to provide management and technical assistance to clients, and to help small and minority-owned businesses recover from the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.

He also was part of a team in San Francisco that launched the department's Access to Capital Initiative that resulted in joint funding between the East LA Community Union, SONY Pictures, the California Public Employees' Retirement System and Magic Johnson Enterprises to build movie theaters, create jobs and foster economic development in East Los Angeles.

Beaver received the U.S. Department of Commerce Employee of the Year award from the Department of Commerce Office in San Francisco in 1999.  In 2001, he began working for the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) in business management, culminating with a position in GSA's Cloud Computing Program Management Office.

Survivors include two brothers, Gregory Beaver and Jeffrey Beaver, both of Harrisburg; one nephew, Ryan J. Beaver and his wife Samantha of Dillsburg; one uncle, Robert Beaver and his wife Barbara of CA as well as many cousins and his beloved bulldog, Huckleberry.