Don was best man at our wedding in 1972.  Six months later he accompanied us on a ski trip to Zermatt where he convinced Ingried to try escargot.  It turns out she loved them and we had Irish coffee and escargot every night thereafter at Elsie's bar.  It was a bad snow year and some Swiss weren't fond of Americans.  Don was scheduled to stay two weeks but left two days early due to inhospitable treatment by lift operators and waiters at the Butterfly hotel.  We had better ski experiences in New England.

Don was nine years younger than me so our childhood development was out-of-sync.  One common thread was our friendship with Suzie Stammer; she was our sister.  Don and my life converged when our older daughters were born two weeks apart, our second daughters within two days.  Our families interacted periodically during their childhood as we moved to California in 1976.  We got together every three or four years either in California or Connecticut along with David and his family.

The three Sigovich brothers played soccer at Staples High School in Westport.  Don's passion for soccer continued with his love of English "Football", especially the English Premier League and Arsenal.  I was fortunate to spend ten days at home with Don between his first and second hospital stays; we watched many European matches as it was playoff time during this period.

Don introduced me to French wine when he brought two bottles of Chateau Haut-Brion to a Christmas dinner in the 70's.  I don't know how much they cost, but I haven't had a first growth Bordeaux wine since that Christmas.  He also introduced us to Tito's which was good since Ingried developed Celiac disease a few years later and she needs gluten-free liquor.  We were fortunate to travel to Paris and Bordeaux with Don and Elizabeth where we shared our love of French cuisine and wine.

Don went through a rough period with his divorce, but was fortunate that he and Elizabeth found each other.  We loved Elizabeth from our first meeting and always enjoy our time together.  We are thankful for Elizabeth's love of Don and support of his may passions.  We are thankful for Louise, Eliza and Sarahs friendship and love of Don.  He was blessed to have them in his life.  At least one, and generally two or three of them, were at Don's side from the day of his first stroke to his last breathe.

Don's love of art and passion for his work were unending.  We always made it a priority to visit his studio during our trips to the East Coast.  He was eager to discuss his projects, show us his reproductions and demonstrate his equipment.  He was proud to show us the books that contained his reproductions, especially one of Ronald Lauder's art collection. I accompanied Don on two studio visits after his first stroke.  He struggled a bit, printed several copies until completed to his satisfaction.  He was tired but still the perfectionist!  We didn't know it at the time, but these would be his last studio visits.

You really, really appreciate what you had when you lose it.  This is certainly the case for me with regards Don.  I had a great brother who taught me a lot about passion; passion for art, music, Croatia heritage and travel, wine, scrambled eggs, English football and much more. Ingried and I look forward to continue sharing these passions with Elizabeth, Louise, Eliza and Sarah for years to come.  Don and I spent a fair amount of time together, especially in the last ten years, but it wasn't nearly enough.  I will miss him dearly.  RIP Don.

I met Donnie in 1971 when Jack took me to Candlewood Lake to meet the family. He became more than a brother-in-law to me; he was truly one of a kind and I will miss him with all my heart. Jack and I married in 1972 and Donnie was our best man. He didn't go on our honeymoon that year but he did join us on several of our skiing trips, the first one being right after we married so we liked to joke that he joined us for our honeymoon. One of our early ski trips was to Jay Peak. The three of us stayed in the same hotel room to save money and we awoke to a major snow storm outside our window. Jack and Donnie got up to get the snow off Jack's 1966 Oldsmobile and came back in to let me know the car wouldn't start. However, I let them know I could probably get it started. They just laughed at me while I had them go outside and sit behind the wheel. I put up the hood, took off the air filter and pushed the choke down which started the car. Although I had started the car for them, they gave me a hard time when I stayed in the lodge and had a "beverage" rather than go out in a snow storm. Loving skiing as much as he did, both he and Jack bought full leather ski masks and skied Jay Peak in a storm. 
We were lucky enough to have met Elizabeth, Don's soul mate, and spend many wonderful times together. We were blessed when they were able to join us for our Bordeaux river cruise in 2017 and we met in Paris where we dined at one of Donnie's bucket list restaurants. We independently made a trip to Croatia to investigate the Sigovich heritage. We are sad that we won't be able to make a trip to Croatia together, something we talked about doing in the future. 
Donnie never lost his sense of humor even while in the hospital. When asked questions after his stroke to make certain he was understanding, one of the questions was "who is the President of the United States". You can only imagine his answer! We knew his mind was okay...
Donnie has left a hole in our hearts but he will always be remembered as the gentle soul he was. His talent and love of art will be missed but he has shown me a new appreciation of the arts. Whenever I see a bird, chipmunk, or squirrel I will remember his eyes as he looked lovingly at his bird feeders and watched his animals enjoy the food he left for them.   We love you Donnie.... Rest in Peace.

I never imagined that Don wouldn’t be there to answer an email from me whether it was a request for a JPEG or to bring one of my pieces to scan. No matter what the “emergency of the day was”, he always responded immediately. I may have picked up a tone of “I can’t believe she’s asking me this simple question and she can’t figure this out” or “Even though I’m in the middle of doing a scan of priceless artwork, I’ll help her out” but he never denied me!

Don was such a special person in so many ways and on every level. In the art world, he was the only and he was the best. He was a gifted person able to re-create and preserve art for generations to come. He understood and respected all realms of expression thus he understood all people. Everyone felt like they could confide in him. Everyone respected him. Everyone liked Don so much.

Don and I have been working on a book for years. He handed me the last page of my book right before he found out how ill he really was. I’m heartbroken that I can’t present him with the finishedbook and I’m heartbroken that he’s gone.

What a privilege it was to be treated like a professional, to be valued and appreciated. Don was a good listener and a good storyteller with a great sense of humor. Driving down Richmond Hill Avenue to his office was a respite and an assurance that my work would be appreciated and preserved. What a gift Don has been to me and to so many others. I’ll cherish him always. Truly.

I miss Don so much. He watched me grow up since I was 10 years old. From 5th grade softball games to my college graduation, I’m happy he was there for all of it (and helping with my design assignments along the way). I’m heartbroken he won’t be there in the future. He brought so much laughter and generosity into our home and it feels incredibly empty without him here. I’m grateful my mom brought you into our lives and I’m so sad you’re gone. I miss you so much. 

Donald Joseph Sigovich--- will always and only be Donnie to me. In the later years of our friendship I would playfully choke out “Don”, but most times followed with a “Nee”. Donnie was my best friend and every day play pal from the time his family moved in next door on Sachem Road in Weston, Connecticut, until we moved to Hudson, Ohio in the middle of my 8th grade year.

We saw each other every day, and I mean every day, from the time I was seven and he was four until we moved away when I was thirteen. The only thing that would keep us from seeing each other physically was when one of us was too sick to play. But then we had the land line telephone to use and would check up on each other.

Unless you have had a friend that has grown up with you for the very formative years of your life, you might have a hard time understanding the bond that is formed. There are bonds made over always being on the same team against his two older brothers, Jack and David, when we played elaborate cowboy/hunter versions of hide and seek in the surrounding woods and fields behind our houses. I know you’ll be surprised to hear that Jack and David won 95% of those contests.

There are bonds made when we played with other kids in the neighborhood and Donnie and I were also always on the same team. If it was a sports event, we would now win 95% of the time but if it was a board game, say Continental Risk, it was every person for themselves!

We shared a love of cowboys and Native Americans and all things concerning them on TV. Our mothers took turns driving us to the river to swing off the rope into the waters or to Compo Beach to play Sea Hunt in the sound.

Every Sunday that I could, I went over to his house to eat a pancake breakfast with his family. I was the daughter his mother never had, and he and his three brothers were the brothers I never had.

And the Sigovich’s had something that I coveted and lusted after from the time I first saw them until my parents finally gave in and gave me a set at Christmas when I was twelve--Lionel O 27 gauge trains!!! I already thought that dolls were pretty silly, but when I went down to their basement after they had set up their trains for the first time and saw a locomotive with smoke coming out of it’s stack and saw the log rolling and coal dumping accessories, the searchlight turning 360 degrees and the sound of the trains running around the tracks, I was smitten. It was truly love at first sight.

I have had my Lionel O 27 gauge trains ever since 1960 and they still make me smile every time I look at them. What a precious gift! And now I will treasure them even more.

There are bonds made from the simple pleasure of running through the woods, sledding down our fabulous hilly road, ice skating or rowing on our neighbor’s pond, or walking home from the bus stop together every day. And every day or any time we said good-bye, the last words we’d say to each other were, “See ya’”.

And there were the bonds that formed that horrible time when his parents took the family on a two week vacation to Cape Cod. That was of course when long distance phone calls were “expensive” and both of our mothers were the frugal type. But we were both so bereft that our parents decided to let us talk to each other a couple of times over that two week period. And somehow both families went to Cape Cod together for a few days the following summer. I know it wasn’t just because Donnie and I were so close, our parents were also really good friends, but it was very sweet of them to love us that way too.

Fast forward until I am now in college and my mother has died right after I graduated from high school. I went over to the Sigovich’s to visit and picked up right where I left off with Donnie’s mom and dad, and since we were now both young adults I have to say it was a bit awkward spending time with Donnie now because we had not had the ability to email, talk or text often to share what was going on in our lives over those next five to six years. 

I remember he was sent on an errand by his mother to go to the grocery store in the Weston shopping center. What I remember was that Donnie had an older, small manual shift convertible sports car but it was a rainy day, his windshield wipers were in need of replacement and he now smoked!!! That was a surprise!

But we still connected in the way friends of many years do, and from then on, off and on over the years we stayed in touch.

We began seeing each other twice a year when I would come to visit my sister and the next time we really started getting close again was when he was married to Debbie and had his three girls. Megan was still a baby when I reconnected again and he was now into his rowing machine, doing the New York Times crossword puzzle on his daily commute to New York City, his art reproduction career and collecting and enjoying his wine cellar.

I was around for the tough times too. Through his  divorce from Debbie, the death of his mother, his beloved Aunt KaKa and eventually his father as well as a few other low points. 

And I was around for the return to more good times as he decided to go into partnership with a fellow artisan in his hometown. I remember walking into his office on Richmondville Avenue and seeing his original Woodstock poster. Until then we had only spoken of our mutual recreational drug experimentation's but when I found out that he was actually at Woodstock, I was sooooo jealous!!! Can I say that I have coveted that poster ever since!?!?

But the best times were still ahead of us. Donnie had many adventures of all kinds, and there are those that I won’t go into because they are merely annotations to his journey of being Don “Nee” Sigovich. But the next highlight for me was when he met Elizabeth. What a perfect companion, friend and partner she is!

I cherished, loved and looked forward to every time I came to Connecticut to see my sister and brother in law because I’d get to see and spend time with Donnie and Elizabeth. Sometimes Mary would come but I can’t remember a time when I came up and we didn’t get together. Those are times I truly cherish.

And there are many more stories around the many things we shared over the years. The story about his trombone from the trombone player of the Dukes of Dixieland which I happily now have. The stories about his many interests and passions with say food, wine, Arsenal soccer, sports, his Croatian heritage, politics, women’s equality, his projects at work, anything that we happened to talk about and above all Art.

It is hard to imagine life without Donnie walking the Earth but I believe that above all else, both laughter and love are eternal so it’s just his physical presence that is missed. He is now out and about and everywhere at once. So keep an ear or an eye or a thought open to hearing or experiencing him remarking one of his favorite go to phrases, “and this and that”...

And back to him I say, “See ya’”.

I am shocked and heartsick! After 35+ years of working with Don I got to know him...and I loved the  curmudgeon and his wonderful sense of humor. He was more of a perfectionist about my art prints than I was and some of the giclees look better than the originals. He was always angry with me for using certain (of my favorite) colors because he had a difficult time reproducing them. Don was the master! He will be missed greatly by all who knew him! Heartfelt condolences to his family and all who knew him.

I've been extremely fortunate to have worked with Don on various print projects. Don would continually  manage to make my art look better and would solve whatever problems there were. Don is irreplaceable and his great loss will never be consoled. Working with Don was a true collaboration as he was not just my printer but labored as a partner. His enthusiasm very much encouraged me to come up with new projects. Don's love of opera was reflected in the prints we worked on for the Met Opera. Eight of my Met Opera posters printed by Don are on continuous display at the Met. It is certainly not a cliche to say that there is no one like Don Sigovich. 
Mark Podwal