Capt. Don Winfield deLambert

Capt. Don deLambert was born in Miami, Florida to Carol (née Ersek) deLambert and Lysle F. deLambert. At the end of WWII, he and his family, now with his stepfather Cormac Conahan, moved to Brussels, Belgium where he attended school for 3 years, becoming fluent in French. Back in the U.S., Don graduated from Freeport (NY) High School, NY and studied chemistry at Hofstra University but left before completing his degree to fulfill his dream of learning to fly. He was accepted into the Pilot Training Program for the United States Air Force (USAF), but when the program was abruptly ended before he enrolled, he was assigned to Undergraduate Navigator Training as a Second Lieutenant and received his aeronautical rating in 1961 at Harlingen Air Force Base in Texas. He served as a flight navigator in Vietnam, including a year in support of Special Forces. He was awarded the Air Medal in October of 1967 for Meritorious Achievement While Participating in Aerial Flight.

While stationed in Bermuda with the USAF, Don met Elizabeth Ann “Libba”Lee whom he married in 1963 in Vestavia Hills, Alabama. Don received his FAA certification for Ground Instructor in October 1968 and was hired as a navigator by Seaboard. He left soon after that to pursue pilot training using his G.I. Bill benefits to attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. Don received his FAA certification for Ground Instructor in October 1968 and was hired as a navigator by Seaboard.

Don, Libba, and their two daughters relocated to New Milford, CT in 1969 where Don served as the FAA Pilot Examiner, Instructor and Chief Pilot at Connecticut Air Service at Danbury Regional Airport during the early 1970s, in addition to working as a pilot for several small commercial and private airline companies. In the spring of 1977, he received his FAA ratings for both Flight Navigator and Airline Transport Pilot with Commercial privileges for both single and multiengine aircraft. He moved his family to Brookfield, CT and was rehired by Seaboard as a pilot in 1979 and eventually retired from FedEx in 1990.

After retirement from airline flying at FedEx in 1990, Don became a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and provided professional investment services through American Express in Danbury, CT for many years. Don loved skiing, scuba diving, biking, and kayaking, as well as flying RC aircraft later in life. He was active with Libba in open‑space protection and watershed clean‑ups in the Brookfield area. They relocated to Hackettstown NJ in 2018 to be near their daughters.

Don was predeceased by his wife of 56 years, Elizabeth "Libba" de Lambert in 2020. He is survived by his daughters Lisa de Lambert and her husband, Brian Arrington; Lynn Taylor and her husband, Michael; and grandsons Duncan and Nicolas. He is survived,as well, by his brother, Richard; sister, Diane McNew; nieces Beth and Caitlin; and nephews Scott, Rene and Corey. His stepbrother, Cormac “Mac” Conahan, husband to Linda, died in 2022.

Don is seen here at the Seaboard reunion in Washington D.C. in 2012.