Donna Mather

November 5, 2020

Donna Jean Mather, 89, of Fort Collins, CO passed away Thursday, November 5, 2020 at Lemay Avenue Health and Rehabilitation after a long battle with Alzheimer’s Dementia. Donna was born on March 6, 1931 in Omaha, NE to Russell N. Mather, Sr. and Wilma J. (Price) Mather. She was a perpetual student/learner with an unending fascination of vocabulary, being a “wordsmith” of sorts. Early in her adult life Donna continued to pursue academics, first obtaining her Bachelor of Science in Education at the University of Nebraska in Omaha, then her Master’s in Education at Colorado State University. Donna enjoyed the medical field thus completing medical terminology courses and other coursework towards becoming an RN. Donna became a Certified Phlebotomist through Medical Careers Training Center in Fort Collins. Working for both Poudre Valley Hospital and Quest Diagnostic Center. Donna tried her hand at many jobs, ranging from Speech Therapist, word processing/sales for Bishops in Omaha, CSU student apartment housing manager, and being self-employed with her own word processing business. She worked in sales, administration, assembly, and consulting. Donna resigned from Center Partners, her last place of employment as a customer service rep, due to a health reason. Donna enjoyed nature, whether it be landscaping, gardening, horticulture of any sort, or camping and hiking. She enjoyed refinishing furniture and did a great job. Her cooking was always good but her two unusual recipes stood out; brandied fruit and homemade Kahlua. Donna was never much of an athlete, yet in her younger years she did enjoy playing the sport of curling. She enjoyed unusual crafts like making old fashion 1800’s Paper Mâché dolls. Each doll had their own unique flair. The men were decked out with top hats and canes and the women with parasols and petticoats. Before living at Lemay Avenue Health and Rehab, Donna regularly attended Timberline Church of Fort Collins. She was an occasional greeter at Saturday evening or Sunday morning services. Donna was a board member, along with being a volunteer for the Alzheimer’s Association and Hospice, Inc. of Larimer County. She also was a volunteer of YWCA health club as an assistant, La Casa Contenta as a house parent, and Danner Memorial Montessori as a pre-school assistant. Donna participated in Primetimers at Timberline Church and Women Investors of Northern Colorado (WINC) as co-facilitator. Later in life, Donna came to know Jesus as her Lord and Savior. Studying the Bible became very important to her. One of the highlights of her Christian journey was walking through the streets of Jerusalem when visiting The Holy Land in Israel. Donna is survived by her children, Carolyn M (Keith) Massey, Windsor CO; Mark T (Ruth) Nekonchuk, Omaha NE; Michael S (Patty) Nekonchuk, Fort Collins CO; Susan M (Bob) Pearson, Fort Collins CO; Connie M (Mark) Chickinelli, Omaha NE; Diane M Gronseth, Englewood CO; 16 grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren and one on the way; nephew, William Russell “Bill” Mather I and niece, Mary Katherine “Kate” (Mather) Pfeffer. Donna is preceded in death by her parents and brother Russell N. Mather, Jr. and many cousins. Any donations made in her memory can be directed to U COUNT Fight Human Trafficking www.ucountcampaign.org/ or Contact Vicky Dix through Timberline Church. The U COUNT ministry was chosen because for years Donna had a license plate that read UCOUNT. She had this plate way before the ministry started up at Timberline Church. She would have liked that her license plate meant what it said through such a much-needed ministry. Turning to more of a personal note. From the family - “Thank you to Lemay Avenue Health & Rehabilitation and Pathways Hospice for the excellent care given to our Mom.” Even though Mom’s life was a fast-moving rollercoaster and her love for family appeared to be secondary, her heart’s desire was for it to be in the forefront. And though it appeared that the unpleasantness and ugliness of dementia took Mom from her family, the last five years of her life were some of the best times with her. God gave us children a gift through all of it…our Mom. A few of Mom’s favorite Scriptures came from the Psalms. Psalm 23 saying “The LORD is my Shephard…”, Psalm 27 saying “The LORD is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?” and Psalm 40, especially verses 2 and 3. She would repeatably say to her daughter, this was special to her since that is how she felt when she came to know Jesus. “He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.” Services are to be determined and her ashes will be placed at Lakeview Cemetery in Windsor, CO.