Donna Russell Nafe
Donna Nafe left this world on February 28, 2007, surrounded by the
profound love, great affection, and deep respect of her family and friends.
Donna’s life defies easy summary. A vibrant, intelligent, compassionate
woman, she touched the lives of many people in her seventy-one years. She
loved and remembered her parents and grandparents fondly; loved her
husband faithfully for over fifty years; adored her children and
grandchildren: and loved and enjoyed the company of her many, many
friends.
Donna was born to Carl and Opal Russell in Bodcaw, Arkansas, on March
30, 1935. She often shared fond memories of her family in Arkansas, her
years as a student at Hope High School, and her experiences living in
Dallas, Germany, Bryan, and San Angelo before settling in Waco, Texas.
She married Gerald Nafe on July 16, 1955. Two children, Todd and
Derek, eventually led to two daughters-in-law, Rachel and Rhonda, and
then three grandchildren, Evan, Haley, and Rebekah. Her fingerprints will
be on all of us for the rest of our lives.
A career business woman who dedicated the last working years of her life
to helping children in need, she still found time to be active in politics and
in the daily lives of her family and friends.
Donna died after nearly a decade of weakening health. Just as she was a
model for her children and grandchildren in life, she was a model for them
in death. She faced great difficulties with her joy in life and sense of humor
intact, and she showed us how to enter eternity with grace, love, and an
unsinkable spirit.
A memorial service was held 16th of June at 1:00 pm at Memory Gardens
Cemetery at Hope. It will involve a couple of prayers, a time for those
who wish to say a few words about Donna and then the spreading of her
ashes over her parents' graves.
Afterward, the family will invite those attending to join them at the Holiday
Inn Express for coffee and to visit.
Gerald wrote that a friend from Berlin, Germany, will be there and he
hopes classmates can make it too.
Memories of Donna R. Nafe from Jo Ann Browning
(Mrs. Don Browning)
Donna, Lynn and I all went to Bodcaw school. I
moved to Hope in eighth grade and they came later.
Our daddies were cousins and enjoyed each other's
company very much. Donna was very much like her
Mother always laughing and happy. They were just
enough older than me that I really looked up to
them and thought they were just great. I wanted to
copy their hair style and clothes like an adoring
younger cousin.
The school bus ride was our closest time together. I
always tried to sit close to them because they were
so much fun. I think Lynn could tell how they came
to be in the same class. I always liked that story. A
lot of people thought they were twins. I think they
were unusually close to each other.
Jo Ann
(Mrs. Don Browning)
Donna, Lynn and I all went to Bodcaw school. I
moved to Hope in eighth grade and they came later.
Our daddies were cousins and enjoyed each other's
company very much. Donna was very much like her
Mother always laughing and happy. They were just
enough older than me that I really looked up to
them and thought they were just great. I wanted to
copy their hair style and clothes like an adoring
younger cousin.
The school bus ride was our closest time together. I
always tried to sit close to them because they were
so much fun. I think Lynn could tell how they came
to be in the same class. I always liked that story. A
lot of people thought they were twins. I think they
were unusually close to each other.
Jo Ann
Memories of Donna Earl Russell Nafe
By Clyde Arnold web tv link
Donna and Lynn Russell moved to Hope at the beginning of our junior
year at Hope High School and lived in a duplex apartment on North
Hervey St. with their parents, Carl & Opal Russell. At the end of the
football season our junior year, I became closer friends with Sonny
Ellen and Jesse Duke who were dating the Russell girls. (Or Sonny
was dating Lynn for sure at the time.)
Tommy Doyle and I had been elected by our team mates as
co-captains for the '52 football team year and Tom and I were to pick
the co-homecoming queens for our senior year at HHS.
I first remember really getting to know Donna and Lynn Russell and
Patsy Samuels because they were all new at HHS and were friends.
Jesse Duke, Sonny Ellen, and I were always friends and fellow
football players so we all started associating more together. The next
thing I knew Patsy and I were dating as were Sonny and Lynn. Donna
dated several of the guys and was like a sister to all of us. She kept
us all laughing with her jokes and good humor all the time. (All three
girls were in the Homecoming Royalty in the HHS '53 annual.)
I spent a lot of my time our senior year at their parents' home as did
Jesse, Patsy, and Sonny with the Russell girls. Not twins..Lynn was
double promoted at Bodcaw by Louise Fuller, Barky's mom who told
me this. As a result, I got to know Carl and Opal Russell well. (We
became lifetime friends/) They treated Jesse and me like family and,
of course, Sonny became their son-in-law when he married Lynn on
January 28, 1958.
At the end of high school in 1953, Jesse joined the Marines with John
Keck, Ellis Rothwell, and Richard Chism. Sonny Ellen and I attended
Southern State College for a year or so. Donna and Lynn went to
business schools, I believe, and later went to work in Dallas, TX. I
learned from Sonny that he transferred to Texas A&M from SSC to
be closer to Lynn. I left SSC to serve a couple of years for Uncle
Sam in Korea.
It was about April 1957 that I visited Lynn and her mom, Opal, at their
Dallas apartment and spent the night on my way to Waco. It was
there that I remember visiting with Donna Earl Nafe, who had married
Gerald July 16, 1955. I instantly liked her husband, Gerald! He was
perfect for Donna who still had that beautiful smile and great
personality. Gerald told me a joke that I've never
forgotten---just to see me blush. I think Donna put him up to it and he
definitely accomplished his purpose.<g>
We stayed in contact with each other through Sonny and Lynn Ellen
and we all attended an AR vs Texas A&M football game during the
early sixties. A&M won and a lot of kissing was going on. It was
sometime around 1968 that Gerald, Donna and boys (Todd and
Derek) moved from San Angelo to Waco, TX where Benja, our girls
LeeAnn and Amy Lynn and I lived. Benja and Donna became much
closer friends and Benja was helpful in getting Donna a job at
Success Motivation Institute. Benja had worked there since our
marriage and was the 4th employee at SMI. Donna, Gerald and our
families continued to fellowship, kids playing games in the parks,
visiting in each others' homes, having Easter egg hunts etc. until my
transfer by USPS to Chickasha, OK in 1969.
Later in 1973, after my transfer to Shrevesport, LA, I remember
Donna calling me by phone to describe how much fun they were
having and who all was attending the 1973 reunion. I had the flu at the
time but remember it as if it were yesterday. (See '73 reunion and
photos taken by Gerald and Donna Nafe and furnished by them to our
web site committee.
http://hopeclassof1953.com/reunion_73.html )
At our next reunion in 1983 http://hopeclassof1953.com/reunion_83
I had been transferred to NYC and my middle daughter, Amy Lynn
(named after Lynn Ellen and Richard Lynn Hunt) was enrolled at
Henderson State and was my date that week end. (See pics
published on Donna's memorial page of the Russell reunion that
same weekend.) Donna, Gerald, Benja and I stayed close friends all
these many years. After Benja's death, I made several visits to Donna
and Gerald's home in Waco when I visited my sister, Imogene, who
lived near them. Donna still loved to have fun, read and write emails
a lot, and operate her personal computer. Her loving husband,
Gerald, was a great caregiver! He was very supportive of Donna to
the very end of her days on God's earth. Donna is now in the hands
of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Donna was always upbeat, laughing and fun to be around and knew
how to live. Our '53 class reunions have not been the same since her
passing and I know everyone in the '53 class misses her
greatly--especially me.
Donna Earl Russell Nafe was a very special lady friend of mine.
Clyde Arnold
May 9, 2009