Anonymous
I so regret the lateness of this shared memory of Donna but it could not be helped. In the mid 80s into the late 90s I was the first full-time staff member of the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation. During those "early years", Donna was on the foundation's Board of Trustees and was eventually the foundation's Board President. The community foundation was fairly "young" then (assets of almost one-haf million dollars). Today, I believe its assets are approaching (if not over) $50 million. Quite a feat for such a small community! But I digress....As Board President, Donna and I worked closely together and often during our conversations, we would talk about other events in our lives having nothing to do with the foundation. I learned so MUCH from her! I remember visiting her once at her beautiful little house on Buena Vista in Spring Lake and how she gave me a tour of her lovely garden. I will miss her dearly and want her family to know that she made a true and positive impact on my life. One question I do have for Donna's family (and it is very strange that this subject matter never came up during ALL the conversations Donna and I had together): In Donna's obituary in the GH Tribune, it states..."She worked at Cranbrook Private School in Bloomfield Hills prior to moving back to the West Michigan lakeshore (in 1952)." My great-aunt, Miss Jessie T. Winter, was the first headmistress of Brookside School, which was founded in 1922 by the Booth Family (of Booth newspapers). The Booth's hired Ms. Winter as the first headmistress of this private school for children from kindergarten to 6th grade. My great-aunt Jessie was headmistress of Brookside for 39 years and retired in 1961. she died in 1984 at the age of 96 and was perhaps the most influential woman in my life. If any members of Donnna's family have any information about Donna's connection with "Cranbrook Private School", I would love to hear from you. Both my mother and her husband attended Brookside as children and then later, my mother attended Kingswood (the "girls' school of the Cranbrook Private Schools) and her husband attended Cranbrook (for the boys'). I am so very sad that this subject matter was something that I never knew about Donna until it was too late to talk to her. She was a wonderful, gracious and caring woman and I will never forget her. My thoughts are with all of you.
Linda B. Strevy
lstrevy@ottawawireless.net##imported-begin##Linda B. Strevy##imported-end##