Full Name:  Donald Warren Van Hise
     Born:  May 12, 1933, Trenton, N.J.
     Died:  October 23, 1980, Hollywood, Fla.
   School:  Mainland High School in Daytona Beach, Florida

Year  Pos     Hgt  Wgt  Cl  Ltr  Hometown
51-52 BK-BR   6-0  155  Fr   *   Holly Hill                      
52-53 BA      6-0  155  So   *   Holly Hill                      

Published by the Fort Lauderdale News on Oct 25, 1980, page 26.

Van Hise fought killer disease for years.

He'd never say die, but cancer had last word.

By James J. Hohman, staff writer.

Sometime in 1976, Donald Van Hise decided that his job with Eastern Airlines had robbed him of too much time with his family.

So he and his wife Rosemarie sold their home on suburban Virginia, packed up their seven children and moved to Hollywood. It was a new chapter in their lives that ended tragically.

On Thursday cancer claimed the 47-year-old Van Hise.

His buoyant, never-say-die spirit had gained him scores of friends and admirers who saw cancer slowly, painfully rob him of his strength and stature.

But they also saw Van Hise fight the killer disease every step of the way. He constantly proved doctors wrong after they predicted how much time he had left.

"He had six months to live for the last three years," said his friend and former co-worker, Steve Dare, assistant supervisor of the Hollywood beach operations division.

"Don made a living out of making doctors liars. He put little stock in their predictions. He just laughed," Dare said. "Don never had any doubts about his recovery."

But he never recovered from the cancer that was first discovered in his throat 3 1/2 years ago.

Despite treatments of virtually every type - many of them experimental - the cancer marched on. It spread to his lungs, neck and other parts of his body until the once robust man barely resembled his former self.

"Don would hit these temporary plateaus when he wouldn't feel too bad," Dare said. "Then he would slide again."

Van Hise met Dare in late 1976, when he took a job as supervisor of lifeguards in Hollywood's beach operations division.

Although he worked there just 11 months, Van Hise fast became the division's "best-liked man," Dare said. "He was an inspirational character. He never quit and he never outwardly showed concern for his well being."

It wasn't long after the cancer took hold that Van Hise had to give up his city job, but he never lost his love for the outdoors - especially the beach.

"It's the old sand in your shoes story," Dare said. "You always come back."

In spite of the debilitating chemical treatments, his pain and weakness, Van Hise continued to run daily, sometimes 12 to 15 miles, his wife said. He would also swim, she said.

A Mormon for the past 12 years, it was his religion that carried him through his sickness, Mrs. Van Hise said. "We became Mormons because it is geared toward family life."

Toward the end, friends recalled, Van Hise had to carry a small oxygen tank with him to assist his breathing.

"There were two things he insisted on doing," Mrs. Van Hise said. "Going to church and going to his children's activities. He did these despite the pain."

And he had one other favorite pastime, Mrs. Van Hise said: sitting by a palm tree planted by the lifeguards who had worked for him.

These last three years of unemployment and astronomical medical bills have virtually wiped the family out. Help still comes from local Mormon churches, but a 2-year-old trust fund for the Van Hises at the Southeast Back in Miramar has only $10 in it, a bank official said.

   Date    Opponent/Meet                  Event                         Place  Results Points
---------- ------------------------------ ----------------------------- ----- -------- ------
            1952 Season
01/17/1952 Georgia                        100-Yard Individual Medley      2              3.00
01/17/1952 Georgia                        200-Yard Breaststroke           3              1.00
01/26/1952 Emory                          100-Yard Individual Medley      2              3.00
02/02/1952 Georgia Tech                   400-Yard Freestyle Relay        1    3:54.2    1.25
02/05/1952 Clemson                        100-Yard Freestyle              1      59.7    5.00
02/16/1952 Georgia                        100-Yard Individual Medley      3              1.00
02/16/1952 Georgia                        440-Yard Freestyle              3              1.00
02/23/1952 Miami                          100-Yard Individual Medley      2              3.00
02/23/1952 Miami                          200-Yard Breaststroke           1    2:39.3    5.00
02/26/1952 Texas A&M                      100-Yard Individual Medley      2              3.00
02/26/1952 Texas A&M                      200-Yard Breaststroke           2              3.00
03/23/1952 Florida AAU                    200-Yard Breaststroke           2              4.00
            1953 Season
12/10/1952 Jacksonville NAS               300-Yard Medley Relay           1    3:33.2    1.25
01/15/1953 Georgia                        150-Yard Individual Medley      2              3.00