Don and his wife, Cindi, have been married since 1978, and have two grown children, Donnie and Sara, who live in Chattanooga and Ocala respectively. Don started a window cleaning business in Gainesville in 1981, shortly after coming to faith in Jesus Christ. Armed with a $2 squeegee from Ace Hardware and a bucket attached to the back of his motorcycle with a bungee cord, he rode into Gainesville from Bell with enough gas to get him there, but not enough to get home.
During these hard times, they also managed to involve themselves in ministry to the homeless and prison inmates. Cindi also served as church pianist and opened a Christian book store in nearby Trenton. It made a profit its first year, and was sold a couple of years later.
After a long struggle, Don eventually developed a regular residential clientele, adding pressure washing to his business in the late eighties. While living modestly on his income, Cindi stayed home and raised the kids, which included homeschooling and several direct sales enterprises.
At the start of the new millennium, Don got the bug to run for office, losing his first contest for Alachua County Commission in 2002 and working on other campaigns until he ran for mayor of Gainesville in 2010, losing by 42 votes in a runoff, and losing a city commission race the following year.
Finished with politics and raising children by 2012, Don and Cindi decided to do the big downsize and got involved in Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF), serving in a Good News Club at Idylwild Elementary. They got so excited about the opportunity to reach kids with the Gospel that they decided to become missionaries with CEF. Don sold his business and they moved to Homosassa to restart a chapter in Citrus and Hernando counties. The new chapter was a roaring success, is still operating, and the Marshes have just moved to CHIEFLAND!