Living in Placerville, Don Fuqua is never far from the athletic activities he loves.

Whether it’s waterskiing on a mountain lake or hiking through the forest with his wife and two children, outdoor sports have always been his passion. “I still like to waterski,” Fuqua says. “I can’t do it as long as I used to, but I still like to get out there.”

Fuqua is lucky to still be alive and active, considering the diagnosis of cancer that came his way in 1981. Thankfully, he survived and has since turned his experience into an optimistic one – serving on the Relay For Life of El Dorado County committee with his wife this year. Fuqua says one of the keys to coping with something so life-changing is to have a positive attitude, and that’s something he has managed to maintain, even when he came down with potentially life-threatening Valley Fever last year. But, in true fighter style, he beat that as well.

Now, Fuqua says he enjoys spending time with his kids – a son who is a freshman in high school and a daughter who is a freshman in college in Iowa – as he always has. “I was always involved with them and their sports when they were growing up,” he states. Fuqua says he also enjoys the occasional wine-tasting jaunt down to Napa Valley, like a recent trip with his wife and her family.

For more about Don Fuqua, and other local happenings and information, be sure to pick up this month's copy of Style – El Dorado County Foothills edition. Click on the Get Your Copy link on this Web site for some of our newsstand locations; click on the Subscribe link on this Web site to become a regular subscriber, or to order a copy of this issue or one of our back issues, please email  [email protected], or call 916-988-9888.