And, a personal note about Donna from her son, John.............................
Donna Wasem
After more than three months of significant health challenges and setbacks, Donna Mae Wasem experienced the homegoing she had long anticipated and desired in the early morning of Wednesday, September 1, 2022. From May 18 through Sept 1 she bounced back and forth between Aultman Hospital in Canton OH and Amherst Meadows Rehabilitation Center in Massillon OH (her home town). She was able to visit family and friends as well as attend her oldest granddaughter’s graduation from Miami University at Oxford OH between May 13-17 when Leslie, Donna, and I made a long-planned trip “home.” We never dreamed she would not be able to return to Florida or join us at her new assisted living facility in Asheville NC after we moved to Asheville in June. She passed peacefully early morning on Sept 1st in almost the exact spot where she breathed her first upon her birth at Massillon City Hospital on August 2, 1930.
Donna’s Memorial Service will be on Sunday, September 11, from 3-4 pm ET at the church where she and John were married in 1952 and where they were active and raised me in the 50’s and 60’s – St. John’s United Church of Christ, 101 Tremont SE, Massillon OH 44646. The minister had called on mom over the past few months at my request and they “hit it off” – no surprise to all of us, right? Rev. Zerby will preside at her memorial, her grandchildren will speak and do special music, two of her great-grandchildren will read Scripture with their grandpa-Pastor (me), and Leslie will reflect as well. At mom’s request, the service will start with a recording of Frank Sinatra singing “I Did It My Way” and end with her grandsons playing a guitar rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” Again – no surprise, right? :->
Donna’s obituary will be available online at https://www.atkinsonfeucht.com by Thursday, Sept 8 and in the Massillon Independent (her hometown newspaper) on Sept 8-9. Her ashes will be joined with my father’s in the columbarium on the campus of Milligan University in Johnson City TN this fall at a date to be determined. No flowers are requested for the Memorial Service. Two recommendations for memorial contributions if so desired are: (1) Suncrest Church (where Donna and John’s membership resides) with gifts sent by check payable to Suncrest Church with “Donna Wasem Memorial” in the memo mailed to Suncrest Church, 10009 Parrish St, St. John IN 44373; (2) Massillon Washington High School Alumni Association (she was Class of 1948) with gifts sent by check payable to WHS Alumni Association with “Donna Wasem Memorial Gift” in the memo mailed to WHS Alumni Association, One Paul Brown Drive SE, Room H-214, Massillon OH 44646.
Donna’s Golfview friends were too numerous to count and were as dear to her heart as can be imagined. Thank you everyone for loving, befriending, and watching out for my mom and my dad for over 2 decades. God bless you all.
John E. Wasem
Candler, North Carolina
423.747.3030