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"I feel a deep sense of personal loss at the passing of Don Praisner. He was a steadfast supporter and friend of mine. He lived a life marked by integrity, commitment to excellence, and duty. He served his country during many years in the Central Intelligence Agency. We are a richer Montgomery County because Don Praisner lived and this is a great loss to the County he loved. We will miss his leadership and his activism. My thoughts go out to his family, who will remember a loving father and grandfather – and to his many friends and neighbors."
-- County Executive Isiah Leggett

"With Don Praisner's death, Montgomery County has lost a model citizen and public servant. The cause of good planning has lost a constant champion. The Planning Board and staff join all who knew and worked with Don in mourning his passing."
-- Planning Board Chairman Royce Hanson

"Really a lot of the stuff he latched onto — at least what from I could tell — really focused on community. … He really latched onto community expectations to make sure that communities are the best place they can be for people to live there."
-- County Councilman Michael J. Knapp (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown

"He was a nice, hard working person. He tried to think about people in the community."
-- Vivian Kassman, a Colesville resident who worked with Don Praisner putting on the annual Colesville Strawberry Festival

"He would just show up at things we didn't expect him to come to. We were still grieving [Marilyn Praisner's death], but we were OK. And now this? Oh god. It's just devastating."
-- Anise Key Brown, the director of the East County Regional Services Center

"Everyone is just so sorry and so sorry for the family. What a terrible thing for the family to be going through this again. …It's exactly to the day. … Mrs. Praisner died basically this day last year. … The last day of the month – the last Friday of the month. …It's just eerie. We're all thinking where we were last year. It's just very sad. He was a nice man. He was engaged, but he was quiet and he certainly was a player."
-- County Councilwoman Nancy M. Floreen (D-At large) of Garrett Park

"He was a wonderful public servant. He was in it because he cared about folks and that's rare in this business. I'm just shocked. It's a huge loss for the entire community."
-- Del. Roger Manno (D-Dist. 19) of Silver Spring

"It breaks my heart. I feel almost like it's the end of a very good era. These were the people you trusted. They were good people. Really good people."
-- Del. Karen S. Montgomery (D-Dist. 14) of Brookeville

"It's not a happy day. It's shocking, it's just absolutely shocking. Everyone is just walking around in a daze."
-- County Councilwoman Valerie Ervin (D-Dist. 5) of Silver Spring

"He was just a very kind and gentle man. There was nothing pretentious about him. He was just a regular guy."
-- Tom McNamara, president of the Greater Colesville Citizens Association with worked with Donald Praisner in the First Tee youth program and Colesville Strawberry Festival

"I'm very sad to hear [about his death.] His family has been good friends to Paint Branch."
-- Jeanette Dixon, principal of Paint Branch High School

"He was just a breath of fresh air. He was just right to the facts,"
-- Barry Wides, president of the North White Oak Citizens Association

"It is obviously remarkably tragic. It was less than a year ago that we lost his wife who was a lifetime supporter of the volunteer fire department [and] it was real blessing to see him step into that role, so you can imagine what a blow it is now less than a year and a half later to lose him.

"They weren't your typical politicians; they were genuine community residents who stepped in to take care of their fellow residents … we were always just remarkably comfortable dealing with Don because his interests were our interests, we always knew that he would do what was best for the fire department and the community.

"We always knew that we had that one person we could go to that would give us the honest answer … you never had to wonder what the real deal was with Don."
-- Tamera Bulla, Burtonsville Volunteer Fire Department EMT III and vice president

"Don was a very kind person and a tireless public servant. But most of all right now my sympathies go out to his family. Losing Marilyn this time last year it must be incredibly difficult."
-- Del. Anne R. Kaiser (D-Dist. 14) of Burtonsville