A Life Story
Donald Allan Kole died in Savannah on September 21, 2026. He was born on September 20, 1930 in Springfield, MA, the son of Beatrice Wittenberg and Abraham Kowalsky. He married Kaye Robinson on January 1, 1955, in Savannah, GA, where he lived the remainder of his life. Living most of his early life in Bridgeport, CT, Don graduated from Boston University in 1952 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration.. He served in the United States Army until 1954. After marrying Kaye, Don moved to Savannah and joined his father-in-law, Sam Robinson, and brother-in-law Paul Robinson, to own and operate Bay Street Lumber Company from 1954 to 1967. In 1967, the business was transformed into the building materials and hardware company Builderama, which grew to a chain of 13 stores. Don sold the firm to the English corporation Ward White in 1985. After a brief retirement, he began and operated Kole Management Co., a real estate investment & management firm, in 1989. That firm was sold in recent years. Don’s community service included chairmanship or the presidency of the Jewish Educational Alliance, Savannah Jewish Federation, Hospice Savannah Foundation, Union Mission, Georgia Historical Society, Savannah Downtown Renewal Authority and WSVH Public Radio. He was also a former board member of Armstrong University Foundation, King- Tisdell Foundation, United Way of the Coastal Empire, Housing Authority of Savannah and First Chatham Bank. Don received the Savannah Jewish Federation’s Jack Malitz Levy Award in 1991 and was inducted into Junior Achievement’s Savannah Business Hall of Fame in 2012. Don and his wife Kaye, who died in 2021, were honored by Union Mission in 2006 with a new social services facility named in their honor, and by Georgia Historical Society 4 years later with the lifetime John MacPherson Berrien Award. Don enjoyed traveling with Kaye and their children and grandchildren. He was an avid collector of African art, which formed the nucleus of the Savannah African Art Museum, which he founded in 2016. He would like to be remembered as a good man with a kind heart. Don was predeceased by his wife, Kaye, his parents, Bea and Abe Kowalsky, and his brother, Roger Kowalsky. Surviving relatives include daughter Debbie and her husband, Charles Shelton, and their daughter, McKenzie; and son Jeff and his wife, LeeAnn, and their children, Amy, Jeremy and Zachary. Don’s later years were happy thanks in large part due the loving companionship of Ardis Wood. The funeral will be held at 2 pm Thursday at Bonaventure Cemetery, with Shiva and family reception from 3:30 to 6:30 pm afterwards at the home of Jeff and LeeAnn Kole, 3 Merlin Court in Savannah. Services will be live streamed via ZOOM: Invite Link https://us06web.zoom.us/j/5052277485?pwd=TUVSU3ZMS2FXS09IcnJJbURtZWJHUT09&omn=82728059310