Lopez was born in Brooklyn, New York on July 15, 1923. He showed an interest in aviation at an early age. He often rode his bike to Floyd Bennett Field where he occasionally got free flights from a family friend. During his teenage years, his family moved to Tampa, Florida, inside the traffic pattern of Drew Army Air Field, so he could see Army Air Corps fighters flying overhead. That hardened his resolve to become a fighter pilot.
Military career
Lopez learned to fly in college, then volunteered for the Army Air Forces Aviation Cadet Program when the age limit was lowered to 18 in early 1942.
In 1948 he married Glindel Barron, sister of Florida State Senator Dempsey Barron. He and Glindel have two children, Joy Lopez and Donald S. Lopez Jr. (currently a professor of Buddhist studies at the University of Michigan), and one grandchild, Laura V. Lopez.
Later life
Following his retirement from the Air Force in 1964, he spent eight years as an engineer on the Apollo and Skylab programs with Bellcomm, Inc., a subsidiary of Bell Labs. In 1972, he joined the staff of the National Air and Space Museum. He was heavily involved in developing and running the National Air and Space Museum, during his later years.
His publications include two memoirs, Into the Teeth of the Tiger (Smithsonian, 1997, ISBN1-56098-752-9), and Fighter Pilot's Heaven: Flight Testing the Early Jets (Smithsonian, 2001, ISBN1-56098-916-5).