May 12, 1930 – February 6, 2026
Donald (Don) Plouff, a longtime Los Altos resident and devoted husband, father, and grandfather, passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by family on February 6, 2026, at the age of 95.
Born May 12, 1930, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Herbert and Delia Plouff, he was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Herb. Don graduated from Rufus King High School in Milwaukee and served in the United States Air Force before earning a Master’s degree in Geophysics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
While working for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Denver, he met his wife Carol, where they married and started a family with their first two children. In 1966, they moved the family to California, settling in Los Altos, where he continued his work at the USGS Menlo Park and welcomed their third child.
His career as a Geophysicist with the USGS was his lifelong passion. Don made pioneering contributions to the field of Geophysics in his career. While his children didn’t always understand what their dad was doing with the equipment that he carried around taking gravitational readings at benchmarks, his work significantly advanced geophysical mapping and mineral assessments across the western US. Don continued volunteering with the USGS for 25 years after retirement as one of the longest serving volunteers in the federal government, only to be stopped by the pandemic shutdown.
Don cherished time with his family. Sharing his love of the outdoors and respect for the environment, family trips included cross country camping trips in the station wagon, hiking adventures, skiing in Lake Tahoe and travels to Mexico, which created lasting family memories. In later years, Don and Carol embraced world travel together as he cared about the broader global community, they visited every U.S. state and explored destinations across the globe—from climbing pyramids in Mexico to standing at the Great Wall of China, the Berlin Wall, and in St. Petersburg, Russia.
In Los Altos, Don was well known as the avid weed puller on the corner and often called “The King of Recycling,” and way ahead of the curve before recycling was popular. He took great pride in caring for his community and was always especially thrilled when his letters were published in the Los Altos Town Crier newspaper.
Don is survived by his devoted wife of 66 years, Carol; his three children, Kathleen (Rob), Michael (Patti), and Elizabeth; and their five grandchildren, Ellie, Jillian, Regan, Mason and Sienna.
The family would like to send a special thank you to Henrietta and Endrie for their compassionate and heartfelt care they provided while Don was on hospice care.
