Donald T. Vaughn, Corrections official, dies at 67

THE SITUATION was dire and scary.

A triple killer had organized a hostage-taking at Graterford Prison in November 1981 after a failed escape attempt.

Several desperate inmates were armed with two shotguns and two pistols, obtained from unknown sources, and were holding six hostages in the prison kitchen.

The job of ending what became a five-day siege fell to Donald Vaughn, then the head of the Graterford guards.

Former Daily News columnist Chuck Stone, who was given most of the credit for ending the crisis by his persuasive face-to-face dealings with ringleader Joseph "Jo-Jo" Bowen, credited Vaughn with organizing the plan of action.

After the drama, Stone wrote that Vaughn "laid out a battle plan with an exactness Patton would have admired."

Describing how Stone and Bowen's brother Jeffrey were to park themselves outside the kitchen, Vaughn cautioned: "Now let Jo-Jo do all the talking. They've got two shotguns and two pistols and they may be trained on you. Be calm. Don't get excited."

Easier said than done, no doubt. But Stone and Jeffrey did as they were told, and after hours of tense negotiations with Jo-Jo, who never relinquished his grip on a double-barreled shotgun, the siege ended.

Donald T. Vaughn Sr., who advanced from corrections officer in 1967 through numerous executive positions to conclude a long and eventful career in the state prison system with the rank of deputy state secretary of corrections for the Eastern Region, died Sunday. He was 67 and lived in East Norriton Township, Montgomery County, but had grown up and lived most of his life in North Philadelphia.

His son Donald Vaughn Jr. said the Graterford siege changed his father.

"It changed the rest of his life," his son said. "But it was change for the better. He had been put in a position where people trusted him."

His father started his career as a corrections officer at the old Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia in January 1967. After the 142-year-old prison closed in 1971, Donald was transferred to Graterford.

He was promoted to sergeant in 1972 and lieutenant in 1977. After a stint as acting deputy warden of the Lehigh County Prison, he returned to Graterford in 1977.

He was promoted to major of the guard, a rank he held during the hostage siege. He then became deputy superintendent for operations and, in 1989, acting superintendent. The apppointment was made final that December, and he served as superintendent of Graterford until 2003, when he was appointed to the state job.

Donald was instrumental in establishing community service centers, halfway houses that provide living quarters for former inmates trying to find their way in the outside world.

He suffered a personal tragedy in 1991 when his son Eric was fatally stabbed by another inmate in Holmesburg Prison. Eric, 25, was serving a sentence for drug possession.

Donald Vaughn was born in Philadelphia to Shaffer and Amanda Vaughn. He graduated from Thomas Edison High School in 1961, and later took criminal-justice courses at Villanova and Penn State.

He married Florine B. Williams in 1970.

"He was a joy to be around," his son said. "He was very humorous. He loved talking and kept your attention."

Besides his wife and son, he is survived by two daughters, Kwanda and Damika, and six grandchildren.

Services: 11 a.m. Friday at Christian Stronghold Baptist Church, 4701 Lancaster Ave. Friends may call at 9 a.m. Burial will be in Mount Zion Cemetery, Collingdale.