Mr. Donald Joseph Shabkie

Donald Joseph Shabkie, noted musician, performer, composer, teacher and environmentalist, died Saturday, January 16, 2021, at his home in Sans Souci where he raised chickens, tended rescued Greyhounds and hosted occasional concerts in his backyard studio for large circles of friends and family.
A well-known pianist and Greenville native, Shabkie leaves a community who knew him in multiple ways—as someone who advocated early for the environment, arts education and lifelong learning. He was also known for practical jokes—April 1 was his favorite holiday—and loving his two grandchildren, Connor and Avery, as evidenced by the array of photographs that fill his home in Greenville.
At the time of his death, he was a musician for the South Carolina Governor’s School of the Arts’ ballet and modern dance department and had been affiliated with this program for more than 30 years; an organist/pianist at Memorial Methodist Church in Greer; and a composer.
He began composing music shortly after graduating from Furman University in 1975 where he had earned a degree in Piano Performance. His first composition, performed at Magill Hall in Greenville, was ‘Songs of Innocence and Experience,’ William Blakes’ poems set to music. More recent compositions include ‘Fantasy on Themes from Carmina Burana,’ performed at the Peace Center in 2019 with the Governor’s School Dance Ensemble; and ‘Tempest,’ a piece celebrating The Governor’s School 20th anniversary at The Arts Center of Coastal Carolina in Hilton Head.
After beginning playing the Celtic Harp in 1997, he won first prize in a competition that awarded him a trip to Scotland for study and performance. He was drawn to Scotland, its Celtic history, culture and lore. One of his favorite places there was a castle where a Monty Python skit was filmed. As a harpist, and back in the states, he and other musicians formed two bands, Windshear and Selkie, both steeped in Celtic music and traditions. Shabkie would often take the harp into the Sarah Gossett Home to play for his late mother and other elders there.
A gifted and giving teacher, Shabkie taught hundreds of Greenville students piano in his private studio; and he also combined his interest in music and physics as a teaching artist in schools across the state as part of the South Carolina Arts Commission’s Artist Residency Program. Closer to home, he encouraged his young grandchildren as they both stepped into the world of music, Connor as a drummer; and Avery, a budding pianist. He was thrilled they were taking to music as he had at an early age. Shabkie’s own start in music began when he was ten with piano lessons with Mabelle Flurry; later with Richard Cass (a student of Nadia Boulanger); Dr. David Gibson at Furman; and Ronald Turini of Canada (a student of Vladimer Horowitz).
Friends and family remember him as a towering figure, not just in physical stature, but in the talent, humility and decency he displayed every day. He was passionate about the world around him and was always seeking solutions for the problems he saw. “He loved anyway he could help bring a positive impact for the environment including driving cars much too small for his 6’4” frame,” said son Robert Shabkie.
“And not turning on the air conditioner in those cars,” daughter Leah Shabkie McCleskey remembered. “Every summer we took trips—to Arizona, New York, Chicago—all fun trips centered around his love of baseball, except that we could never turn on the air!”
How Shabkie got around Greenville and the state is tied to his pursuit of health as well as acts of saving energy. Whenever and as often as he could, he would cycle rather than drive. He was a regular on the Swamp Rabbit Trail for more than 20 years while he was music director at Trinity Presbyterian in Travelers Rest; and for 11 years at Messiah Lutheran in Mauldin. Later, and following his passion for flying, Shabkie obtained his single engine commercial pilot license. He commuted from Greenville to Columbia by plane for seven years while employed by Columbia College; he was also registered with Angel Flight taking patients with medical conditions to appointments out of state.
He was also proud of the solar panels he had recently installed on his home, the creation of a compost bin and a small garden where he grew kale, blueberries, blackberries and figs. A vegetarian for most of his adult life, he was always happy to bring one of three of his signature dishes to a gathering: potato salad, cranberry casserole or homemade pizza.
An eclectic, generous human being who loved his family, his friends and his community, he pursued life relentlessly. That was Don Shabkie.
Born January 6, 1953, he was the son of the late Joseph John Shabkie who was born in Newport, R.I., to Lebanese immigrant parents, and Earline Childress Shabkie who was born in Pickens, S.C. His surviving family includes two children and their families, Robert and Donna Shabkie, and daughter Avery Elizabeth of San Diego; and Jon and Leah Shabkie McCleskey and son Connor Samuel of Columbia, S.C.; and step-daughter Kathleen Patricia Hughes of Greenville, S.C. He is also survived by his sister, Jean Shabkie Fessenden, her husband Ford Fessenden, and sister Eva Van Dok Pinkley, all of New York; and nephews Macon and Nicholas Fessenden; and Oliver and Emmett Pinkley. He was formerly married to Susan Elaine Waldrep DuPlessis and Julie Hughes. The family is especially grateful to his friend Beth Whitaker for her love and support.
A celebration of life will be held at a later date. For those who loved Don, please contribute in his honor to GreyhoundPets.org, Donate.AmnestyUSA.org, or Heifer.org. Read more about Don at www.donshabkie.com .
Comments may be posted to www.https://www.cremationsocietyofsc.com/obituaries/Donald-Shabkie/#!/TributeWall.com .