Donald Deagle was the husband of Ruby Deagle and uncle of the spoiled Douglas Deagle. He died somewhere prior to the events shown in Gremlins and it is unknown what the reason of his death was. What little background is known of him is from a brief radio news report of Mrs. Deagle's death at the hands of the gremlins, noting the Donald Deagle was a real estate swindler, and can be inferred that due to his death, there was insufficient evidence to reclaim the stolen money from his widow.