Donald Nutt

Don Nutt, 84, passed away surrounded by his loving family on Wednesday, September 25, 2024. Harry Donald Nutt – known to his friends as Don -- was born in Sheridan, Arkansas on December 16, 1939, to Horace Winburn and Joy McDonald Nutt, and grew up in Malvern, Arkansas. 

While he attended Southern Methodist University, he met the love of his life, Sylvia Sue Bourland, who he married in 1960. After graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, he started a career at Temco in Greenville, Texas (a company that later became E-Systems, then Raytheon, and is now part of L3) where he became Director of Research and Development. 

Don and Sylvia had one son, Donald Bourland Nutt, twins who passed away during childbirth, and a daughter, Nikki Kay Nutt-Smithart. After leaving E-Systems, Don worked for CTAS in Waco, then worked with Walmart heir Alice Walton to found an aircraft modification company in northern Arkansas. He also worked in Tulsa before returning to Waco and starting his own engineering consulting company before retiring. 

The last decades of his life were focused on the study of scripture and its relationship to politics, culture, and science. Don is survived by his wife Sylvia, son Donald (daughter-in-law Kathy and grandsons Nicholas and Noah), daughter Nikki (son-in-law Brad), and numerous friends and relatives.