The Martha s Vineyard Times
Don DePriest passed away on Jan. 9, 2021, at Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River. He was 74 years old. Don battled cancer for three years, and died peacefully while surrounded by loved ones.
Don was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Osby DePriest Sr. and Avis Williston DePriest. Don was raised in Oak Bluffs by his mother, with his three brothers, Robert Williston, Osby DePriest Jr., and Ashley DePriest. He graduated from Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School in 1964.
He had exceptional mechanical abilities, and a special talent for building fast race cars. He was an expert mechanic, and passionate about auto racing and fine-tuning his race cars and motorcycles. According to his friends, he always had the fastest cars and motorcycles on Martha’s Vineyard. He was known on the Island for winning drag races and building cars that some of his friends still talk about to this day (for example, an Opel with a Buick engine that never lost a