SCARBOROUGH — Donald R. Burpee of Lisbon died Nov. 6, at the Maine Veterans’ Home after a long illness.

He was born on May 7, 1933, in Lewiston, the son of George and Annette Burpee and attended local schools graduating from Lewiston High School. Donald enlisted in the Navy in 1951 and served as a cook and baker aboard the USS Loeser, DE-680.

Following four years of naval service, he returned to Lewiston and married Liane Gilbert in 1957. He was employed as a roofer and sheet metal worker for Hahnel Bros in Lewiston and James A. McBrady Inc. of Scarborough until 1977, when he started his own company, Burpee Roofing and Sheet Metal.

He enjoyed spending time with his family, gardening, motorcycles, woodworking, baking, and sports — especially high school hockey and Red Sox baseball. An industrial accident rendered him a paraplegic in 1985, but he proudly remained independent not only learning to drive with hand controls but also engineering a set of hand controls for his lawn tractor and a system to tow his wheelchair behind his snow blower.

Following his accident, he became a self-taught woodworker and made many fine pieces of furniture from his wheelchair. He was a member and former officer of Elks Lodge 371 in Lewiston.

Survivors include his children, Donna Malarsie of Standish, Dean Burpee and his wife, Carole, of Wellesley, Mass., Ann Lang and her husband, William, of Arlington, Va., and Craig Burpee and his wife, Tracy, of Charlottesville, Va.; his sister, Georgette Maloof of Boston; his brother, Gerry Burpee of Lewiston; four grandsons; and two granddaughters.

Donald was predeceased by his wife, Liane; and his brothers, Bernard and Albert.

The family thanks the staff of the Maine Veterans’ Home in Scarborough and the staff of the Brockton and West Roxbury, Mass., VA Hospitals for the fine care our father received over the past two years.

Donations, condolences, and a photo tribute may be accessed online at www.albert-burpee.com.