Don William Carona

Don William Carona, 60, of Bryan-College Station, Texas, passed away peacefully on September 8, 2025, at home with his wife by his side. Instead of a funeral, A Celebration on Life will be held in the Spring of 2026 (details will be shared when available).

Born in Texas City, Texas, on November 20, 1964, he pursued a higher education at several Universities, receiving his Bachelor’s Degree at Texas A&M University where he would later find himself turning a hobby of gazing at stars into a career of managing the University’s Observatory.

Before his career in Astronomy, he spent many years at Camp Strake and El Rancho Cima entertaining campers and staff with his guitar skills and funny antics along with using his love of the water to teach Aquatics merit badges and skills. He also spent many years after camp life teaching future camp counselors at the Boy Scout’s National Camp School for Aquatics.

In the early 2000’s Don took on a position as Director of Texas A&M’s Student Observatory marking a major point in the beginning of A&M’s Astronomy Department’s growth and development. His hard work got him far. His involvement in building the two observatory domes and the observation deck showed his strength, the thousands of lines of code over the many years show his determination, and the stacks of books scattered throughout his spaces reveal his adaptability. Don’s fascination with stars started as a hobby, which is why it was truly a feat for him to have filled the role of A&M’s Observatory Director for over 20 years.

For many years Don Carona loved to travel and spend his time outdoors. His passions ranged from baseball, learning to fly small airplanes, water skiing, lawn care to computer coding. Most importantly was teaching others what he knew about any given subject. His favorite adventures involved exploring the beautiful landscapes of America’s National Parks. He shared this love of nature with his children and furbabies. His favorite place to travel was Colorado where he would take his family and pass on his love for the Mountains and road trips (because he always preferred to drive).

Don Carona was a kind and passionate individual. No matter where he found himself he struck up a conversation with anyone around him. If you were lucky to call him a friend he would do anything to help out. From helping people set up a telescope to mowing the lawn at a camp. Over the years he wrote several computer programs (he learned how to program by reading a book) to help astronomers all over the world. While he could have sold them to make money to this day they are free to anyone who wants to use them. That is the kind of man he was not in it to be rich but to make others' lives better.

Being married to a teacher he knew that there might be requests to help out from time to time. He helped make a teepee for a reading center, built benches by hand to ensure students had the right seating for a table in the classroom, picked up glitter for a project (he bought 4 bottles that years later are still being used because he never wanted my students to be without) and my favorite was when I needed to explain to my students how long it takes to get from Texas to California. So the family took a road trip and we documented the travels so my students could have a virtual trip.

I don’t think I can name one all-time favorite memory of my dad. What I can say is that I will always remember all of the little things he did that made me laugh and the memories that still bring me some nostalgia today. I remember him always making jokes on road trips or singing songs that made my brother and I laugh. One time, while he was preparing to visit the new Camp Strake and see some of his old friends, he was practicing the guitar in his room. My brother and I couldn’t stop laughing at the outrageous lyrics. Another big part of what I can remember about my father was watching our favorite shows and movies together. Whenever I was sick, we’d watch San Andres or Modern Family for hours. In fact, when we took a trip to Disney Land, my dad and I were so upset to find out they didn’t sell the slippers Jay had gotten Gloria in the show. One of the most nostalgic memories I have is waking up at 8 AM to see my dad watching Formula 1 on the TV. I wouldn’t get off of the couch for at least an hour just watching cars zoom by on the screen. But not only did we share favorite shows, he always supported my art. My dad would always come up to me to see what I was making and he’d go “Wow that looks amazing! I can hardly draw a stick figure!” My dad was one of the people in my life who saw my drawings having a real future and career behind them. Sometimes I’d say that I’d be an engineer or marine biologist, but he’d always tell me that I shouldn’t completely give up on the art idea. He’s one of the reasons I’m pursuing a major in Studio Art and hope to be a concept artist someday.

Finally, some of the best memories I have of him were when we went up to the observatory. I can’t say I inherited a thing for studying the galaxy, but I can say that I remember my dad letting me click a few buttons on the computer and moving the telescope to look up at planets like Saturn. He’d always mention studying Betelgues and he could look up at the sky and find Orion in a heartbeat. I also remember how excited he’d be bringing up some handmade antenna that looked more like a PVC pipe on a tri-pod. Now that I’m taking an Astronomy class myself, I can’t help but admire the things my dad devoted his life to. He could answer almost any question regarding astronomy while I can still barely remember how different telescopes work. But overall the observatory wasn’t just the place my dad worked. For me, it holds memories from every stage of my life until now. From dancing around in the observatory while my dad worked to almost hitting a tree out there learning how to drive, I’ll always remember how my dad wasn’t perfect, but how he always did his best to give me the opportunities, interests, and humor I have today.

As a son I would like to say I love him for the things he taught me. Those things such as the basics of guitar playing, love for music and computers, and so much more will be with me for the rest of my life.

While Don won different awards over the years such as TAMU President’s Meritorious Award and Citizen’s Certificate of Merit from the TAMU PD, those and others were not his greatest achievements. They were not hung on the wall or displayed on the mantle. To this day pictures and certificates that Jordan and Reese either drew, colored, painted or earned hang on the walls. Some of these works of art are almost 20 years old. He was so proud of everything that the kids did that he never took any of them down. If you were to ask him what he was most proud of he would not have hesitated to say his kids.

Don leaves behind a wife Laurie Carona, son Jordan Carona, daughter Reese Carona, sister Sherrie Fry, brother Gregg Carona, mother Verba Polansky, father in law Thomas Post, mother in law Carol Ann Post and many more family including nieces, nephews, brother and sister in laws.