Donald Stordahl, a local entrepreneur and civic‑minded expat, died on April 17 at the Jocotepec Rehabilitation Center after a struggle with alcohol addiction.
Born on January 18, 1971, in Redwood City, California, Donald moved with his family to South Bend, Indiana, at the age of four. He was educated at Riley High School in South Bend, from which he graduated.
After high school, he lived in Florida, where he ran his own real estate business during the 2008–2010 recession until the market collapsed. He then returned to Indiana and worked in retail in Avon, Indiana, before starting a TV service that helped older adults navigate Android boxes and, later, Fire Sticks. During that period, he returned to school and earned a Microsoft professional certification. He also began writing code for programs and implementing them.
In 2013, he flew to Chapala with his parents and rented a house in Ajijic for a month to decide whether they all wanted to live there. They returned to Indiana, made plans to move to Ajijic, and in 2014 they drove two cars for six days to a house they had rented in La Huerta. Later, they moved to lower Chula Vista for a year, then lived in Chula Vista Norte for six years, before finally moving to Riberas del Pilar.
Donald began helping people in the Lakeside area with TV Android boxes and Fire Sticks, and later started a TV streaming service.
In 2015, he began working with Val Jones and the zombie dancers of Thrill Ajijic under the auspices of Elliott Joachim, who had started the event in 2010. When Val Jones died a year later, Donald took over the event and ran it through 2025. He worked with the zombie dancers on their makeup and organized a talented makeup team that used a variety of extravagant and ingenious techniques to make the zombies as frightening as possible.
The event raised tens of thousands of pesos each year for local charities, including the Ajijic Rotary Club, the Tepehua Community Center, the Chapala Cruz Roja, and the American Legion, among others.
Donald was the first charter member of the Sons of the American Legion at Post 7. He also worked as a sound technician at LLT for a short time and helped local expats sign up for Seguro Popular (the federal health system).
He is survived by his parents, Tom and Cheryl Stordahl; his brother, Erik; his stepbrother, Matthew Mark; his nieces, Alexandra and Gabrielle; and his nephew, Nicholas.
A memorial for Donald will be held on Friday, June 12, at 10 a.m. To receive an invitation, send your name and email address to Val Jones at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..