In Memory of LI TRIO Co- Founder- Don Treffeisen
Don Treffeisen- Co-Founder
As we reported here and in our newsletter, we are deeply saddened at the passing of Don Treffeisen, our friend and a Co-founder of the Long Island chapter of TRIO. Don will be sorely missed by so many of his friends and colleagues and his legacy will live on. Don was an efficient and dedicated volunteer for Long Island TRIO.
Don used to enjoy chatting with me about how much our chapter has grown and how pleased he was as he observed so many wonderful volunteers picking up the ball and effectively carrying it to an even more productive platform. Don and Anne used to show enjoyment and were proud at LI TRIO events as they watched volunteers make so much of their vision a reality.
Don really set the course for LI TRIO. Anne had a specific vision and was able to effectively communicate her ideas. Don set out to accomplish the many tasks it would take to help accomplish those goals while setting direction for our chapter.
it’s never easy running an organization like our organization with all volunteers but it’s certainly a much more daunting task to start from the very beginning and start the course the way Anne and Don did so efficiently.
We have so many wonderful memories of our chapter’s founders, Anne and Donal Treffeisen and we will share some of them with you.
Walter continues:
I met Don Treffeisen at my first LI TRIO meeting held at Macys Roosevelt Field in March 1990. He and Anne founded the group 2 years earlier following Anne’s successful liver transplant performed by Dr. Lewis Teperman, who also assisted in founding LI TRIO.
At that time, LI TRIO needed someone to maintain the membership database and so I was fortunate enough to join the board of directors and spent time with Don and Anne as well as other wonderful people, some of whom still come to the Holiday Party. There was Marie and Ron Healey, Eulene and Bob Smith, Vicki and Ed Itts, Betty and Vito Suglia and Bobby Carroll who had a liver, kidney and pancreas transplant.
Don was the guy who often carried the ball but Anne was the quarterback and directed the action. Don did all of the work to get LI TRIO established as a “Not for Profit” organization. He attended to details for many of TRIO’s endeavors and crucial government filings in the early years and he stayed involved as LI TRIO grew to its current high level of activity. He was always available to share his thoughts.
What I remember most about Don is that he so appreciated what Anne went through and her new found life after transplant that he would do anything possible to help Anne achieve TRIO’s goals. Don left us a wonderful example of love.
Walter Ruzek and Mike Sosna