Donald Felton, 83, born to Edward and Margaret (Ellis) Felton on November 29, 1933 in Cleveland, OH, died peacefully on February 15, 2017 in California. He attended Oceanside/Carlsbad High School, where he enjoyed athletics; his natural football talent earned him a scholarship to the University of Southern California. After earning a degree in business, Felton became a Beverly Hills stockbroker until 1981. As an early investment with a friend, he bought a Culligan Soft Water franchise in Bakersfield in 1963, then bought Culligan-Sacramento in 1967. In 1981, Felton left Bache & Co. to spend time and energy on his expanding Culligan businesses. He bought Culligan-Woodland in 1990 and several more water businesses along the way. Since 1974, Felton enjoyed working with his son, Mark. At the time of his death, the elder Felton was President of Nor-Cal Water, Inc. and Felton, Inc., representing the Culligan brand name in nine counties in north-central California. He is survived by his wife of more than six decades, Julie; son Mark (Sue) of Carmichael, CA; daughters Sheila (Ron) Silver of Portland, OR; Cindy-Ann O’Connor of Ypsilanti, MI; Sherri Felton (Dean Adelizzi) of Germantown, MD, as well as eight grandchildren. A Mass of Christian Burial was held on February 25 in Carmichael. In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made in memory of Don to support Cardiac Rehabilitation at UC Davis Health. Checks may be sent to: UC Davis Health, Health Sciences Development, 4900 Broadway, Suite 1150, Sacramento, CA 95820. Please reference IMO Donald Felton–Cardiac Rehabilitation in the memo line.
