Donald R. Trim

Trim, Donald R. age 67 of Canton, March 17, 2005. Beloved husband of Dorothy. Dear father of Jeffrey (Alicia); Gregory; and Christopher. Also leaves three grandchildren: Lucas, Joseph, and Sophia;and one brother, Edward (Carol.) Visitation Monday 3 - 9 PM at Vermeulen Funeral Home, 46401 W Ann Arbor Road, (between Sheldon and Beck) Plymouth. Scripture service Monday 7 PM. In state Tuesday 10:00 AM until funeral mass at 10:30 AM, at Our Lady of Good Counsel, 47650 North Territorial, (corner of Beck Road) Plymouth. Memorial contributions may be made to U of M Medical Development, Hematology Oncology (Dr. Schuetze), 301 E Liberty, Ste. 4000, Ann Arbor MI 48104-2251. Don was a member of Our Lady of Good Counsel parish in Plymouth since 1966. In his spare time he enjoyed hunting, fishing, golf, and spending time with his grandchildren. AND, he was a HUGE U of M fan! To leave a message of condolence for the family, click on the Online Condolences link on this page. A Canton resident since 1966, Mr. Trim was born and raised in Saginaw. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Michigan. He was a Registered Professional Engineer in Michigan, Florida and Ohio; and was a Registered Land Surveyor in Michigan. He was a recipient of the Vernon B. Spalding Leadership Award, American Council of Engineering Companies of Michigan, 2005. He helped shape Wade-Trim into a nationally recognized engineering firm. He championed the interactive process used on projects at Wade-Trim. The process focuses on supportive management, sharing information, relationship building, involvement of affected parties and embraced visions. Through his involvement with ACEC, he led an effort to develop educational programs and publications that will enhance the role of the consulting engineer into the Trusted Advisor concept. This elevates the consulting engineer to support overall project and service delivery, to mitigate outside risk affecting projects and portfolios, and to provide long-term services on the project. He also led the effort to develop the Quality-Based Selection Coalition in Michigan. Don was an ardent supporter of education. Under his guidance, Wade-Trim initiated a scholarship program for minority/female students pursuing degrees in engineering, surveying or construction management fields. He helped expand the program over the years to include paid internships and full-time employment opportunities for graduating scholarship recipients. Thanks, in part, to Don, Wade-Trim now offers scholarships at nine different education institutions totaling $35,000.00 to date. Don was extremely committed to the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) on a state and national level. From his initial involvement in 1964, Don worked his way up to President of the state and national ACEC organizations. He spearheaded ACEC's involvement in the adoption of design/build legislation by the US Congress in 1997. Don wrote Design/Contract-Build, the most recent manual in The Design Professional's Handbook series, published by ACEC. He also was an ACEC fellow.