Donald Frederick Drivdahl was born June 24, 1945, the second of four children, to Mildred (Myer) and Louis Drivdahl in Big Timber, Montana. He attended Glasston Elementary with his siblings and cousins. The family left their sheep ranch near Melville and moved to Dillon, Montana, in 1959, where they ran their newly purchased and renamed M&L Motel (now Sparky’s Garage). In 1963, Don graduated from Bea verhead High School and went on to earn a BS in Elementary Ed from Western Montana College, where he was also a member of the fencing team.