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Donald Washington Sr. (b. 1930, West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — d. December 1, 2009, Haddon Heights, New Jersey), was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.
Washington was born in West Philadelphia in 1930 and was raised in Southwest Philadelphia. He graduated from Murrell Dobbins Career and Technical Education High School in 1948 and was a two-sport athlete, competing in swimming and basketball.
From 1965 through 1990, he worked for Food Fair Services as a warehouse attendant. While there, he won trophies and awards on the company's amateur boxing team. However, jazz was always his life and his passion. He studied at private and public institutions, starting to play the saxophone as an elder statesman on Philadelphia's jazz scene since the late 1960s to the mid-1980s.
As a leader, Washington founded the Marlboro Men, a group that toured Haiti, Jamaica and the Virgin Islands. He also performed with Donald Byrd, Jerry Butler, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis, Jr., B. B. King, Diana Ross, Neil Sedaka and Horace Silver.
When not traveling, Washington jammed regularly in Saturday Nights at Natalie's Lounge in West Philadelphia. His students included Grover Washington, Jr., and George Howard.
Washington was married twice and had nine children from his first marriage.
Washington died on December 1, 2009, in Haddon Heights, New Jersey, at the age of 79, following complications from lung cancer.
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Donald Washington Sr., 79, a well-known Philadelphia-area jazz saxophonist and retired Food Fair worker from Haddon Heights, died of lung cancer Tuesday at home.
Mr. Washington was born in West Philadelphia and raised in Southwest Philadelphia. In 1948, he graduated from Murrell Dobbins Career and Technical Education High School, where he excelled in swimming and played varsity basketball.
Food Fair Services employed him as a warehouse worker at 10th Street and Pattison Avenue in South Philadelphia from 1965 to 1990. While there, he won awards on the company's amateur boxing team.
But his real love was music, his daughter Bernadette said. He played the tenor saxophone and was an elder statesman on Philadelphia's jazz scene in the late 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, his family said.
He performed with Nat "King" Cole, B.B. King, Neil Sedaka, Horace Silver, Donald Byrd, Jerry Butler, Diana Ross, and Sammy Davis Jr.
Mr. Washington had a band, the Marlboro Men, that toured Haiti, Jamaica, and the Virgin Islands. When not traveling, he jammed Saturday nights at Natalie's Lounge in West Philadelphia.
"My dad was such a quiet person, but he was very, very astute at music," his daughter said. "Everybody who knew music knew my dad. He just loved to play."
Among his students were Grover Washington Jr. and George Howard.
Mr. Washington met Eleanor Keith in his neighborhood, and they married in 1951 and had nine children. Three years after his wife died in 1991, he married Marilyn L. Blanchard.
In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Washington is survived by sons Donald Jr., William, Clinton, Cory, and Michael; daughters Sekai and Sheryl; 14 grandchildren; 28 great-grandchildren; three great-great grandchildren; and a son from a previous relationship, Donasia Brightful.
Son Joseph died before Mr. Washington.
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