Donald R. Gode: A Life of Service, Skill, and Community
Richard Reggie Smith Research/Editor Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0
Donald R. Gode was born on January 6, 1922, in Waterbury, Connecticut, to John and Olive (Cole) Gode.
Local newspaper records reflect the family’s early involvement in community and church life.
The Journal, September 29, 1931, noted:
“The Junior Ladies Aid Society of the Methodist Church will meet today at the home of Mrs. John Gode on Mitchell Avenue.”
In 1932, The Journal reported that Mrs. Christopher Platt was ill at her home and that Mrs. John Gode was caring for her, further demonstrating the Gode family’s role in local civic life.
Donald grew up swimming and playing ice hockey at Weeks Pond with his friends, the Tier children. Their mother, Nancy Hopkins Tier, was a nationally known female aviator of the 1930s and a close friend of Amelia Earhart. Donald later recalled watching aircraft land in a mowed field near their home—land that would eventually become the site of Highland School.
employed as an electrician’s helper at the Chandler Evans Corporation in Meriden. In 1943, he graduated as a sergeant from Aerial Gunner School at Fort Myers, Florida. He was later assigned to the 15th Army Air Force in Italy, where he successfully completed 50 combat missions as a tail gunner aboard a B-17 Flying Fortress.
Donald often said that the most memorable moment of his service occurred during a mission to evacuate American aircrew members who had been held captive in Romania. For his wartime service, Sergeant Gode was awarded the Air Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters and the European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Ribbon.
Military service would continue through the next generation. Donald’s two sons also served in the armed forces. Donald David Gode enlisted in the U.S. Army and later reenlisted in 1974, serving as a recovery specialist. In 1970, Peter A. Gode was promoted to Army Specialist Five while serving in Vietnam as a crane operator with Company D, 36th Engineer Battalion.
In 1947, The Journal announced the engagement and upcoming wedding of Miss Judith May Buechele, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Julius Buechele of East Haven, to Donald Richard Gode, son of Mr. and Mrs. John H. Gode of Mitchell Avenue.
Donald was employed as an electrician at Pratt & Whitney from 1956 until his retirement in 1984.
Following his return to civilian life, Donald’s passion for sports flourished. In 1947, he played in the first game of the newly organized Cheshire Hockey Club, watched by approximately 200 spectators, as the team tied the American Legion hockey team of Ansonia, 3–3. He was also deeply devoted to softball, playing for Carrington’s and later the Green Dolphin team.
William Dolan, former manager of the Green Dolphin team, recalled:
“I would like to say that Don Gode was the best softball pitcher ever in Cheshire. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he was unbelievable. He pitched for the Green Dolphin team and lost only two games in five years—and those losses were due to errors. This was a fast-pitch league, and there was even a team from the Cheshire Reformatory, as it was called then. If there is ever a Cheshire Softball Hall of Fame, Don is on top.”
Donald was also a member of the Cheshire Volunteer Fire Department. In 1955, he determined that a $20,000 fire at the Grange Hall had been caused by a penny lodged in a fuse box. He later received commendation for his actions during the Horton Hall fire at Cheshire Academy.
participated in the Mothers’ March, a month-long fundraising campaign for the National Foundation for Polio, Crippling Diseases, and Birth Defects. She was also an active member of the Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary.
The Gode Family and the Cheshire Fire Department
Donald’s father, John Gode, was a charter member of the Cheshire Fire Department. Donald himself became a life member, continuing the family’s legacy of service. His son, Peter Gode, was also a member until his death, and Peter’s son, Andrew, later served as a firefighter near his home in Leesburg, Virginia.
Ken Gode was a long-standing member of the Prospect Fire Department before retirement and is still a Apparatus Mechanic for the Danbury Fire Department, where he maintains fire apparatus and equipment.
Another member of the extended Gode family with a documented role in the department was Patricia “Pat” Gode. A longtime Cheshire resident, she served as an Administrative Assistant for the Cheshire Fire Department until her retirement in 2011.
Peter Gode Jr was also a devoted life member of the Cheshire Volunteer Fire Department, where he served in leadership roles including lieutenant, captain, and assistant chief. His service, like that of his father Donald R. Gode, reflects a family legacy of dedication to public safety. According to department records and local history, life membership represents decades of service, training, emergency response, and community engagement.
Beyond his formal service, Don enjoyed time with friends at the firehouse, gatherings at the Notch Store, breakfasts with his World War II buddies at McDonald’s, and conversations with neighbors along Moss Farms Road.
One account captures a typical moment:
“One of the regulars, Don Gode, walked in for his daily Notch sandwich; the old wooden floors creaked as he entered. He called out a greeting and received one in return.”
At age 66, Gode reflected on the store’s history:
“This place has been here since I was a kid. We both came along together.”
“You come down here, you hang out, meet friends,” Gode said, stepping outside near the Notch’s wooden bench. “You ought to come down here Sunday mornings. It’s like a town forum.”
As passing cars honked in greeting, his expression darkened when the subject turned to the proposed convenience store nearby.
“They’ve got the power behind them, they’ve got the money,” he said. “That doesn’t make it right.”
“They always say money will buy anything. But this place has been here since day one. So who’s got the priority?”
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