Donald Gene Staats, 68, of Salisbury, MD died peacefully on March 10, 2009 at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD after a long battle with heart disease.     Don was born in Cortez, Colorado on July 6, 1940 to his late parents, L.D. and Isla Merle Staats.
He is preceded in death by his brother, Larry Staats.     He leaves behind his loving wife, Sandra; a daughter, Donna Hennessy of Norfolk, Virginia; a son, Brian J. Staats and fiancée Julie Rosse of Boston, Massachussetts; a son, Trevor A. Staats of Lawrence, Kansas; two grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, many nieces, nephews, friends and relatives.
    Don grew up in Patterson, California until entering the Navy in 1957. He was assigned to Fighter Squadron 32 maintaining the new Chance-Vought F-8U Crusader, he was mainly stationed out of Jacksonville, Florida on the USS Saratoga and USS Shangrila and toured abroad twice. He was a drummer in the Navy Band. Upon his honorable discharge, he returned to California where he became a trained gemologist and later a police officer in San Leandro. He later moved back to Cortez, Colorado in 1971 as the Chief of Police of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). In the fall of 1981, Don was promoted to a Buyer at Chaffin, Inc., owners of Gibson's Discount Stores. He moved his family to Dodge City, Kansas where they lived for 24 years. He left Chaffin's after 21 years to fulfill his dream of opening Staats Liquor Store with his wife, Sandra. He also became a Commander at the 1714 VFW in Dodge City from 1998 to 1999.
    Several years later, Don moved to Salisbury, Maryland where he loved spending time with his family. He had a passion for restoring old photos. He was quick to break into a smile and loved to joke around with his 2 sons who he affectionately called Snake and Gator. Don was a lover of animals and had 5 dogs and 2 cats.