Donald Haynes; Chief of Care Center

Donald Dean Haynes, president and executive director of Calabasas Residential Treatment Center, has died.

Haynes, who suffered from Marfan syndrome, died Tuesday afternoon of a heart aneurysm, according to his partner, David Shapiro. He was 38.

Born May 22, 1959, in Fresno, Haynes was raised in Oakland. He had worked with children since high school, pursuing a career that included stints as director of various group homes for juveniles, including Calabasas Academy and Passageways Inc.

“He basically devoted his life to the kids,” said Shapiro. “Day in and day out, it was kids, kids, kids, kids,” he said, adding that because of Haynes’ devotion, many of his charges have finished high school or gone on to college.

“His mission on Earth really was to save children.”

Haynes was a member of the Knights of Epithius. He was also a charter member of the Pacoima Youth Cultural Center as well as the Pacoima branch of the NAACP.

A memorial service will be held at 7 o’clock tonight at the Pacoima Seventh-day Adventist Church, 11350 Glenoaks Blvd. A funeral service will be held Sept. 20 in Fresno.

Haynes is survived by his mother, Gladys Henry, of Oakland; three brothers, David (his twin), Jeffrey and Bernard Haynes; three sisters, Judy Hardeman, Janice Haynes and Sarah Haynes, all of Fresno.