Roll Call Tribute

Published in Denton Record-Chronicle on Apr. 24, 2019

Donald Bruce Cleveland(1935 - 2019)

Donald (Don) Bruce Cleveland, 83, of Denton, Texas passed away on April 17, 2019. In 1977, Professor Emeritus Don Cleveland joined the faculty of the University of North Texas where he was the architect of the internationally recognized interdisciplinary doctoral program in information science.

Don was born on December 16, 1935 in Rotan, Texas to Bruce and Sammie (Harris) Cleveland. He graduated from Rotan High School in 1954 and served in the U.S. Army from 1956-1958. Following his military service, he graduated from Howard Payne University in 1959. He went on to receive a master's degree in library science from the University of Texas at Austin in 1962, a master's degree in computer science (with a mathematics minor) from Texas A&M University in 1970, and a Ph.D. in information science from Case Western Reserve University in 1973 where he taught for three years before joining the University of North Texas faculty.

Don also worked in academic libraries at the University of Texas at Austin, Howard Payne University and Sam Houston State University. He was the recipient of numerous grants and served as a consultant for information systems on the local, national and international levels including the World Health Organization, National Institutes of Health, Organization of American States, National Library of Medicine, American Heart Association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rockefeller Foundation, Texas Library Association, Texas Instruments, IBM and Electronic Data Systems (EDS) among others. Don was a prolific writer of professional articles as well as nine books, including textbooks, children's books, and novels. Two of his books, coauthored with Ana Cleveland, Introduction to Indexing and Abstracting and Health Informatics for Medical Librarians, received national recognition. He received several awards for his publications and professional contributions to the field, including Teacher of the Year from the Association for Information Science and Technology. One of Don's greatest legacies is the graduate students he mentored and taught throughout his career in information science.

While working at the University of Texas at Austin, he met Ana Divino from Havana, Cuba; they married on July 23,1966. Together they enjoyed a loving marriage of 52 years, and travelled to over 70 countries, all seven continents, and sailed all the major oceans and seas of the world. His positive attitude and sense of humor will be missed by his family, friends, and colleagues, but will be remembered through the numerous cartoons he drew throughout the years. Don was never far from his West Texas roots and he always carried Rotan in his heart.

Don is survived by his wife, Ana of Denton, Texas, sister Wanda and her husband George Odum of Denton, Texas, brother-in-law Louis Divino and his son Austin of Austin, Texas, niece Dianna Smith of Denton, Texas, nephew Curtis Smith of Sedro-Woolley, Washington, and extended family, Scott and Susan Sheldon of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Jodi and Jeff Philbrick of Denton, Texas, and Julia and Chip Mundy of Roanoke, Texas.

Don lived with cancer for over 40 years. The family wishes to give a special thank you to Dr. Filippo Masciarelli and Alice Masciarelli, DNP, Denton Community Health for their professional care and friendship. The family is grateful for the excellent care Don received from Good Samaritan Lake Forest. Also, thank you to Texas Oncology Presbyterian Dallas and Denton and VNA Ann's Haven Hospice.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Denton Community Health 525 Locust St. Suite 200, Denton, Texas, 76201 - http://www.dentonchc.org/ A memorial service will be held later in the year.