Donald Charles Moyer, D.O.

Donald Charles Moyer, D.O. passed away on 2/15/24 in the presence of family.

Donald was the beloved husband of Stacey Moyer, and father of Donald Moyer III and Matthew Moyer. The greatest times of his life were spent with his family, traveling to national parks, visiting museums, seeing foreign countries, attending professional sporting events, and watching theater shows and concerts. These activities all meant more to him when he was with his family. He enjoyed life and also enjoyed working and serving others.

Donald graduated from Tamaqua Area High School in December 1982 after leaving unexpectedly in his Senior year to attend college early due to financial concerns. In December 1985 he graduated Kutztown University with a BA in visual communication and graphic design. After working for a while as a graphic designer/illustrator he decided to change fields. He returned to Kutztown and earned his elementary education teaching certificate. He completed his student teaching at John S Clarke elementary school in Pottsville. He then taught elementary school in Philadelphia and while there also attended classes at Lehigh University to become a reading specialist. He enjoyed teaching and never minded reviewing things a million times over until children who were considered unable to read became able to read.

While working as a reading specialist he began to recognize the medical aspects of some students learning disabilities and decided to look into Pre-med classes.  He began to take 1-2 Pre-med classes a semester at the University of Pennsylvania. His last class at the University of Pennsylvania overlapped with his first year of medical school but it was important to him to have closure and finish his biology degree at the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in biology in August 2000.

He attended medical school at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine and supported himself with part time work until he was awarded the National Health Service Corp Scholarship. He graduated LECOM in 2003 and completed his residency program with Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip, NY and Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, NY.

As he was a National Health Service Corp Scholar he then began to practice at Goshen Medical Center in Faison, North Carolina, a medically underserved area. He found caring for the children of the hard working migrant farm workers to be very rewarding. He also enjoyed improving his Spanish speaking skills.

In October 2009 he returned to Pennsylvania to be closer to family and began working for Geisinger in Orwigsburg. He remained there until his health made it too difficult to work. He was grateful for the connections he made with his patients and their families and enjoyed watching his patients grow up. He loved seeing them in the community participating in activities with his own children as well. Donald could not fully express how much those connections meant to him. He fought hard to stay healthy enough to continue working for as long as possible.

Dr. Moyer was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer in August of 2022 despite having no real risk factors for the disease. He underwent surgeries, two types of chemotherapy and participated in a clinical trial in order to fight this disease. He sought specialty care and opinions from all over and was hospitalized for the past several months.

He encourages people to watch for signs of this illness as it is often hard to detect.

He is survived by his mother Arlene Moyer, of Tamaqua, his brother Darron Moyer, of Tamaqua, his wife Stacey of Pottsville, and his sons Donald C. Moyer III, and Matthew S. Moyer of Pottsville. He is also survived by his mother in law Carolyn Gigous and Father in law Donald Gigous of Fayetteville, PA, his brother in law Bryan Gigous and sister in law Rena Gigous of Shippensburg PA as well as nephews, cousins, aunts, and uncles. He was preceded in death by his father Donald Moyer, an aunt, and two uncles.

In lieu of flowers he asks that you make a donation to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network www.pancan.org, a children’s charity or simply buy a gift for a child in your life.

A Celebration of Life service will be held at Sweet Arrow Lake Clubhouse Monday, February 26th at 6 PM. A visitation will be held from 3:30 PM until the time of service.