Obituary of Donald B. Killaby, Jr.

          Rochester: Don slipped away peacefully at home on March 2, 2022, at the age of 68.  He is survived by his parents, Lillian Killaby and Donald Killaby Sr., wife Pamela Killaby, daughters Tellier and Evelyn Killaby, and siblings Lisa Killaby (Mike Ouradnik) and Brian Killaby.

          Don grew up in Rochester and attended Fairport High School.  He was always artistic and knew early on that he wanted to study architecture.  He graduated from Syracuse University School of Architecture.  Through that program he had a very formative study abroad year in England and has friends in that country to this day.

          Don and Pam met at Hafner Associates, where they both worked while still in school and for years after.  This path led Don to a career in architectural interior design, lighting design, graphics, and furniture design.  Over the years he had his own design firm, Symbiosis, and also worked for local architectural firms.  His collaboration with CCN International on furniture design, showrooms, space planning, catalogs, photo shoots and website work lasted from 1986 until this year.

          Over the years Don worked with so many wonderful clients and colleagues, and truly loved this industry.  He was well respected in his field, and won awards for lighting and furniture design. His last high profile project was the Newport Car Museum in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.  He drove back and forth from Rochester to Newport many times to work on this labor of love, which paired his long-time passion for high performance cars with a fabulous project and previous client.  The green entry wall which sets off the scalding red Lamborghini Countach is so quintessential Don!

Don was unbelievably creative, interested and interesting, gentle, and kind.  He is truly missed.

          If inclined, donations can be made to Station 90.1, WGMC-FM (for which Don was on the board), http://jazz901.org/ or to the Darwin Martin House (where Don was a member) https://martinhouse.org/.  A Celebration of Life, at which Don’s beautiful, intricate pencil drawings will be displayed, will be held at the First Unitarian Church of Rochester, 220 Winton Road South, Rochester NY on Friday May 6 at 7:00 PM.

          For those looking for more information on the Celebration of Life for Don, please leave a condolence message with your email at the end so that Don's family may reach out to you.