Donald M. Kendall was born on 16 March 1921 in Sequim, Washington, USA. He was married to Bim Kendall, Sigrid Rüdt von Collenberg,, Unknown and Anne McDonell. He died on 19 September 2020 in Greenwich, Connecticut, USA.
In 1963, he made the decision to change the name of Pepsi's diet soda from Patio Diet Cola to Diet Pepsi. In the early years of diet soft drinks, Pepsi became the first major soda manufacturer to give its diet product the same name as its flagship product.
