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MACCALLUM, Donna Jean (60302)

Parents

Birth

  • Born on September 26, 1929 in Calgary, Calgary Region, AB

Death

  • Died on March 13, 2019 in Pullman, Whitman Co., WA
  • Buried in Pullman City Cemetery in Pullman, Whitman Co., WA

Marriages

Notes

  • Obituary: Donna was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on 26 September 1929 at the home of her mother's friend. She was the youngest child of three born to Gretchen (Churchill) MacCallum and Archibald MacCallum. She grew up a child of the Depression and the Second World War, both of which affected her perspective throughout her life. Being ten and twelve years younger than her brother, Bill, and her sister, Freda, she was often the only one to receive a gift at Christmas. Later, after her siblings had left, her brother to serve in Europe and her sister to nursing, she spent most of her time with her best friend, Joy. According to the stories of this time period in her life, she and Joy had many adventures together. Donna joked that every school she'd ever gone to, has had the unfortunate result of burning down! She felt the war was hard on her education in any case as the teachers were never there for long. She lamented this perceived lack of education, but Donna was, in fact, a life-long avid reader and learner'97never embarrassed to ask questions and learn more. Donna finished nurse's training in Calgary in 1951 and soon decided to go to work in the United States. She nursed in Wyoming, California, Hawaii and Washington, the state she would come to call home for the rest of her life. While in Honolulu, she became a US citizen. According to her, the judge asked her why she wanted to become a US Citizen since Canada was such a nice place! She roomed with another nurse, Karen, who was from Washington. When Hawaii became too expensive after a few years, Donna and Karen, Leslie and Evelyn moved to Seattle, renting a white house on the corner in the University District. As it turned out, Karen had a cousin named Tom who had been a student at WSU in Pullman. One weekend, while in route to the coast and his childhood home town of Raymond he stopped by the little white house on the corner to visit his cousin. That is when Donna met Tom, and the rest became history. Tom visited Donna in Seattle about every weekend for a year and they were married in December of 1960 at the St. Mark's Cathedral chapel on 10th Avenue in Seattle. Shortly thereafter they moved to Pullman where Tom had a job in a lab on campus. Donna worked at the Vet school, and then at Pullman Memorial Hospital. They started their family in June of 1964 with the adoption of Bill, followed by Carol in 1966 and Joe in 1968. For most of their children's childhoods Donna worked part-time while Tom was building his career at the Wood Technology lab, eventually becoming the Director. When Donna was ready to go back to work full time, she sat the kids down and asked them if they were OK with that. For the kids' middle and high school years, Donna worked at Student Health on the WSU campus. She loved working with the college kids and bragged that she was the one to give Drew Bledsoe his allergy shots. Tom joked that Donna's colleagues at Student Health'97Helen, Mic, Betty and so many others'97constituted the 'nurse mafia,' a term of endearment due to their knowledgeable advice about all things health-related. Tom and Donna were such a pair, both very hard-working, active in the community, and creative. When Donna retired from Student Health, she kept busy volunteering at the Senior Center and the Food Bank. She also took art classes with Niki, rekindling a love that had always been a part of her life, from teaching herself to sew and jumping right in making suits for Tom and dresses for Carol, among so many other things to painting and collage-making in later years, art was ever-present in Donna's life. When the kids were in high school, Donna took a painting class on campus and her art adorned the family home ever since as well as the homes of the kids as they grew up. Grandson Luis is now the proud owner of her paints and brushes as the Parkinson's prevented her from continuing her painting. Donna was also a wonderful cook, she searched cookbooks and was interested in trying out everything. When the family returned from sabbatical in Italy, for example, she learned to make cannelloni including making the pasta itself from scratch. After going to China with Tom through "Up with People," in the early 80s, she took a Chinese cooking class at Pullman High School in the evenings called "Cooking the Wong way," in honor of the instructor. Donna and Tom were great supporters of the Cougars and attended the Coaches Postgame shows. Her grandsons remember one time they went to the show with their grandparents. Being a cocktail hour show, in typical Donna style, she felt comfortable wondering out loud why the coach wouldn't talk directly to her. Of course, the show was a live radio show between the moderator, the coach, and callers, not a conversation with the live audienceā€¦Nonetheless in 2008, years later, USA today did quote her as saying, "We're afraid we'll lose him," about coach Tony Bennett. She turned out to be correct. Donna and Tom had many opportunities to travel over the years and took the kids when they could. After retiring, they spent many winters first in MazatlĆ”n, Mexico and later in Palm Beach, California. In either place, they were generally joined by lifelong friends the Pellerins, Woods, Ruckers, and Quanns as had been the case for any family vacation over the years whether in Priest Lake, ID or at cabins at Coeur d'Alene. These events'97along with Cougar football weekends'97formed the backdrop for so many family stories and good times, so much laughter, so much wisdom, so much love. Donna lost her lifelong love and companion, Tom, in June of 2014. Tom had struggled to care for Donna in her fight with Parkinson's Disease, just as Donna had struggled to care for Tom through his third fight with cancer as she had done with the second and the first. Her children, Bill, Carol and Joe and their spouses/significant others rallied around her to make sure that their promise to Tom that they would always care for her would be true. Donna passed away at home, peacefully, without warning but surrounded by love. She is loved and missed beyond words. Donna is survived by son William (Bill) Maloney of Edinburgh, Scotland; daughter Carol Ndambuki and husband Rob Mutisya Ndambuki of Pullman, WA; grandsons Luis and Darren Maloney of Seattle, Ian and Alan Ndambuki of Pullman; granddaughters Cindy Ndambuki of Spokane, Ivy Ndambuki of Pullman, and Savannah Ginestar Ndambuki of Harrisburg, OR; son Joseph (Joe) Maloney and his wife Lynn and daughters Jolene and Janelle of Bonney Lake, WA; sister-in-law Susan Maloney of Raymond, WA; nieces Elizabeth and Sabra Woodworth of Victoria and Vancouver, BC and nephew Garth Woodworth of Victoria, BC. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 27, 2019, at 10:30 AM at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Pullman. The graveside service will be held following at the Pullman City Cemetery.
  • Occupation: Registered Nurse

Sources

  • Findagrave.com: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/197705363/donna-jean-maloney

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