Deacon Donald George Halter entered eternal life on July 29, 2025. He was 94 years old.

Don was born at home on June 9, 1931, in Poughkeepsie to Mary (nee Nagy) and George Halter. He was their only child. His family settled in Newburgh, where his parents ran the Barrel Bar and Grill. As a 12-year-old, he helped his mom run their business when his dad joined the Navy to fight World War II. Don was nothing if not a precocious child. He often told stories of running around the streets of Newburgh with his friends while his parents worked long hours. When he was 5, he tried to tune a piano in a vacant lot and ended up sawing off the middle finger on his left hand (an attribute he actually used in future theater performances). He attended St. Patrick’s Catholic School and graduated from Newburgh Free Academy in 1949.

It was no secret that Don was not in love with academia, so after high school he followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the United States Navy, where he served honorably as a radarman third class during the Korean War. When Don returned home from his service in 1954, he went to work at the family business, Halter’s Liquors on Broadway in Newburgh. His love for music and performance led him to join Civic Theatre, where he met the love of his life, Ann.

Don and Ann married in 1959 and settled in the Town of Newburgh, where they raised their four children and many pets. Don continued at Halter’s Liquors until he started a career in the U.S. Postal Service in the late 1960s. He started as a sorter, but his hard work and determination led him to be promoted to clerk in the main Newburgh Post Office on Broadway, and by 1972 he was the postmaster of the Modena Post Office. For many years while working full time in the Postal Service, he also ran his own landscaping business. He was beloved in Modena, and for good reason. He cared for the people in that small town, going to potluck suppers and was always rewarded for his hard work with vegetables from their gardens. His pride in his post was never more evident than when government funds were not available for aesthetic improvements — he commandeered his wife and four kids to paint the post office, paid for out of his own pocket.

In the 1980s when the USPS was rolling out the new point of sale (POS) system, Don was asked to train postal clerks and postmasters on the new system. Given Don’s outgoing nature and salesmanship, it was a great success, and he was given a large commendation on behalf of his efforts. Once again moving up in his career, he became postmaster of the Gardiner Post Office, from where he eventually retired in 1991. The first few years of Don’s retirement were spent traveling with his wife Ann, as well as cooking and gardening. He performed regularly with the Hambletonian Barbershop Chorus, of which he was a member since the early 1980s. Then came the calling that had been tapping on the door of his heart for decades. He had long heard the call of the Diaconate and answered it by being ordained a Catholic Deacon at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in 2001.

Deacon Halter didn’t just talk the talk. He walked the walk of a man of faith.

He administered to the infirm, the elderly, and the sick. He invited those with no family, those with no home, to his table at Christmas and Thanksgiving to celebrate with his children and grandchildren, teaching his future generations how to be benevolent and loving — not just with words, but by example. You cannot speak of Don without mentioning his love of gardening, nature, birds, and animals. It was common knowledge among those who knew him that he could not watch any movie or TV show where an animal was harmed. His beloved animals Heidi, MacTavish, Muff, and Puff, and grand-dog Katie were waiting for him as he crossed over.

He spent hours in his gardening gloves and wide-brimmed hat mowing his lawn and tending to his garden. Many a neighbor was often seen standing in front of his home, gazing in admiration at the hill of daffodils in the front yard come spring. His ingenuity was most evident in the pulley system he devised for his bird feeders. No bird was ever left hungry at the Halters’.

Don was lovingly cared for in the last months of his life by his daughter Donna and her husband Carlos, who allowed him to live out his days in comfort, love, and dignity.

Don is survived by his four children: Eric Halter, Donna Chacon (Carlos), Tracy Halter (Heather), and Rachel Taylor (Chris); and his Papa’s Boy, grandson Andrew Donald, whom he loved and adored.

He is also survived by his grandchildren Julia, Ian, Elijah, Sophie, Emma, Lucas, Sydney, Jacob, Gavin, and Haley; and his great-granddaughter Madeline.

He was predeceased by his wife of 65 and a half years, Ann, his parents, Mary and George Halter, and his cousin Barbara Masten.

He lives forever in all of the lives that he has touched.

A visitation will be held on Wednesday, August 13, from 4-7 p.m. at Brooks Funeral Home located at 481 Gidney Avenue, Newburgh, NY 12550.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Patrick’s Church on Thursday, August 14, at 10 a.m., located at 55 Grand Street, Newburgh, NY 12550.

Interment will follow at Cedar Hill Cemetery located at 5468 Route 9W, Newburgh, NY 12550.