Don Massengale, a former Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Board of Trustees member and a member of the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame, passed away Sunday, May 5, at the age of 84.

Donald B. Massengale Jr., a 1955 graduate of Perkinston Junior College, was a member of the 1953 football team that went 7-3-1 and tied Copiah-Lincoln 6-6 in the Laurel Lions Bowl. The following season, he switched from fullback to center.

After college, he started working at Ingalls Shipbuilding, where he retired in 1994 as director of Industrial Relations Services. He joined the Mississippi National Guard in 1953 and rose to the rank of major before retiring in 1974. He was a passionate member of the MGCCC Alumni Association and the Bulldog Club and served on the Board of Trustees from 1989 to 2014, including a term as chairman in 2000-01.

The school honored him in 2004 with the Sam Owen Award, given annually to a person who has actively supported the college through dedication and service. He was inducted in the Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009 and won the Spirit of Gulf Coast Award in 2014, given to someone who has made significant personal and/or financial contributions in support of Bulldog Athletics. He endowed the Donald Massengale Scholarship.