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Donna L. Shineflew
March 24, 1927 - October 24, 2021
The incredible woman we called Mom, Grannie, Great Grannie and Great Ghee died on Sunday, October 24, 2021 at Fairfax Community Hospital. She lived an incredible 94 years on Earth.
Born on March 24, 1927 to Adam Henry “Lee” Laumann and Anna Lillie (Klute) Laumann, Donna Lee was the third of four beautiful daughters raised by German parents on the family farm in Westboro, Missouri. She had fond memories of her childhood, attending South Dale School and St. John’s Lutheran Church, going to dances at the Farmers City Store, graduating from Tarkio High School in 1945 and beginning life in Rock Port a few months later.
Donna Lee wanted to attend college to become a fashion designer, however, when she learned her mother had enrolled her into a school to become a stewardess, she sent a postcard to her cousin in Rock Port and asked for a job at the bank. She began working as a teller at the Bank of Atchison County, now Bank Midwest, the Tuesday after Labor Day and spent the next 50 years there, working her way up to senior vice president of Bank Midwest before her retirement in 1995.
In 1947, she began dating Clyde Shineflew, an Army veteran who was working at a filling station. When he met her at the bank, he told his father he would marry her, and he did. In 1950, he helped the sheriff catch cattle thieves and used the reward money to buy an engagement ring. They were married on September 1, 1950 at First Lutheran Church. She said her father believed no one was good enough for his little girls so she didn’t expect him to come to her wedding, but while standing at the altar she heard his signature sniffle and was pleasantly surprised. After the wedding, she and Clyde had a small reception in town at the home of her in-laws, Guy and Ruby Shineflew, before honeymooning in Louisiana.
When they were first married, she and Clyde lived in an apartment above the Bank of Atchison County, then moved to the white house on Market Street in Rock Port, Missouri. They welcomed daughters Diana Lynn on November 24, 1954 and Robin Kay on August 5, 1959. As a working mother, even when it wasn’t as common as it is today, Donna still found the time to sew all of her daughters’ dresses, costumes, and even special occasion clothing, like dresses for Rainbow Girls and school events. She later said it was a lot of work, but it had to be done. “I just didn’t get a lot of sleep back then,” she joked.
In 1975, she, Clyde and Robin moved to the house on the hill just outside of town. This house became the family home in the decades that followed as the family grew to include sons-in-law Wayne White and Gary Gaines, her beloved grandchildren, and 16 great-grandchildren.
Though she considered herself just a normal person – “an ollllld woman,” she often teased – she was extraordinary. She was always willing to lend anyone a hand and loved serving other people, plain and simple; that is the legacy she leaves. As a member of First Lutheran Church, she was a Sunday School teacher to generations of preschoolers (you can still smell the homemade play dough, right?), served on the altar guild and as church treasurer, sang in the choir and took care of the flower beds. She sang with the Sweet Adelines beginning in 1965 and was their treasurer, served on the Community Hospital Association board, the bank’s board of directors, and oversaw the finances of her “little old ladies,” even as they became younger than she. She even helped people file their taxes, using the computer, until she was 90 years old.
She loved sewing her entire life, making dresses for all types of occasions, converting handkerchiefs to baby bonnets for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, quilting, and sewing dresses for angel babies in her later years. Donna loved cooking for her sons-in-law (don’t ask about the chili that one time) and in retirement also loved playing bridge at the Rock Port Nutrition Site, which she fondly called “Wrinkle City,” and Slap Jack and Old Maid with the young people in her life (she always took the Old Maid card, by the way).
She was, quite simply, the best mother, Grannie, Great Grannie and Great Ghee anyone could hope for. We are devastated by her loss, but are comforted in knowing she built a strong foundation for her family, loved Jesus and lived in a way she believed would make Him proud. She was a model of positivity and strength even as she was a caregiver for her father, battled and survived four types of cancer, or got annoyed with her rowdy daughters and grandchildren if they called her as she was trying to nap.
Donna is survived by her daughters, Diana White (Wayne) of Mound City, Missouri and Robin Gaines (Gary) of Covington, Tennessee; sister Ruth “Maxine” Laumann Lang (Bill) of Tarkio, Missouri; and grandchildren/great grandchildren; Jason Gaines (Molly) Ryder and Lola of Denver, Colorado; Echo Leigh Day, Jaiden Leigh, Jaylen, and Jenna Denmark and Jensen Day of Covington; Nicholas White (Patricia), Breonna Waterman, Vincent and Zane of Maryville, Missouri; Joseph “Tyrel” Gaines (Katie), Caiden and Khloe of Brighton, Tennessee; Ian White (Brandy), Mayson and Teagan of Mound City; and Ryne Gaines (Kelly) Caleb, Liam and Tatum of Munford, Tennessee; “Aunt Donna” to dozens of nieces and nephews; and a beloved friend to so many.
Donna is now reunited with her husband, Clyde, who died in 1997; companion Ralph Gayler, who died in August 2021; her parents, Lee and Lillie; sisters, Hermie DeBoer and Lola Fast; and many of the Laumann and Klute cousins and friends she’s missed over the years.
The family wishes to thank the staff at Tiffany Heights in Mound City for the care and friendship shown to her over the last two years.
*** The funeral service will be streamed live on Shawn Minter’s Facebook page.***
Funeral Service: 10:30 A.M., Saturday, October 30, 2021, First Lutheran Church, Rock Port, Missouri.
Open visitation begins 9:00 A.M., Friday, October 29, Minter Funeral Chapel, Rock Port. The family will receive friends from 9:30-10:30 A.M., Saturday, prior to the service.
Interment: Greenhill Cemetery, Rock Port.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Rock Port Senior Center.
Arrangements: Minter Funeral Chapel, Rock Port.