Donald E. Hampson

Donald E. Hampson, 88, of Memphis, Tennessee, passed away on Monday, June 23, 2025.

He was born in Los Angeles, California on March 14, 1937. He graduated from Messick High School in Memphis in 1955; he graduated from Memphis State University in 1959, studied Medicine at The University of Tennessee in 1961, and was a research assistant and completed a Master's in Philosophy at Florida State University in 1967. He was an able seaman in the U.S. Merchant Marines from 1967 - 1970 and traveled the world on a merchant ship. He had many different jobs afterwards, from working in the lumber mills in Portland, Oregon, to a press operator at a printing company and then in later years, armed security work in Memphis.

He lived in his home in Memphis until 2024, when health problems arose and he moved to Amarillo to be near family. He was a very unique person who could speak and write several languages, from Latin to Swahili, who read voraciously and had an infectious, unrestrained and boisterous laugh. He had a huge love for animals of all kinds, and he fed the local cats and raccoons who would wander up to his porch. With all of his intelligence and knowledge, he was an average American blue-collar guy who at the end of the day, loved a beer at a good pub.

He is survived by a daughter, Donna Scott and her husband Robert, of Amarillo; a grandson, Michael Scott of Fort Worth; a granddaughter, Mindy Nahki and her husband Richard; a great-granddaughter, Janie Estrada, all of Amarillo; a brother, James Hampson, a nephew, Brad Hampson and his wife Christie, all of Tampa, Florida; and a niece, Lori Green, of Memphis.