Donald Muscoe

Donald Leroy Muscoe was born on October 14, 1930 in Detroit, Michigan, Wayne County, U.S.A. to parents Mitchell J. Muscoe and Marguerite Muscoe (Hutchinson). Donald was the fourth of five sons born to his full blooded Native American Dad from the Chippewa (Ojibwa) Tribe and his blue-eyed, raven haired wife of Irish descent. Both parents stood at at least 6 foot tall and, thus, Donald and his four brothers—Mitchell, Robert, Kenneth and Eugene— grew to become men with towering, yet humble, presences. The boys’ dad, Mitchell, died from complications due to diabetes in 1939, when young Donny was just nine years old. The loss of his dad cut into his soul deeply and he held on to every memory he could of his Old Man until the day Donny himself died, including some of the words of the Native Chippewa language his dad was teaching Donny before his Diabetes got the better of him. Don remembered his Dad, laid out in his open casket in the “living room” of the tiny shack the big family called home in his tiny hometown of Cedarville, Michigan. The loss of his Dad made young Donny become fiercely protective of his Mom, Marguerite, and somehow responsible for the welfare of his brothers, especially the youngest brother of all, Eugene Phillip Muscoe. Donny made a promise to himself to look after and consider his Mom and brothers’ needs above his own, no matter what. He kept that promise and eventually carried it over to the family he would create with Marlene Lewis much later in his life. Although Marguerite Muscoe was a University educated woman with teaching credentials, substitute teaching jobs were few and far between in the middle of The Great Depression. She made some money as a seamstress, but the fatherless family relied upon the Welfare system and whatever one of the boys might be able to hunt down and kill for dinner. Donald said that sometimes the best he and his brothers could do was find some frogs to kill and bring home for that night’s meal. Don stated that, while frog legs had eventually become part of some sort of high-end French cuisine menu, when he and his brothers brought frogs home for the evening’s fair, it was a source of shame and ridicule. Eating frog legs were considered to be a sign of poverty and desperation.