Donna Lee Copeland

Donna Lee Copeland born Jan. 16, 1933, in Nebraska City, Nebraska, died on Oct. 2, in Salem surrounded by her children.

Donna graduated with honors from Percival High School in Iowa. She raised her family in Ritzville, after which she moved to Spokane to pursue a career in nursing.

She attended Deaconess School of Nursing, WSU for her Bachelor’s Degree (Go Cougs!) and Whitworth for her Masters, specializing in Health Education and Chemical Dependency. She maintained a 4.0 grade average throughout her college education.

After graduation, Donna worked at Deaconess Hospital, Eastern State Hospital and Spokane County. She retired to Albany, and finally moved to Salem to be near her son William.

Donna loved her family, enjoyed gardening and cooking the garden’s bounty, flowers, music, reading, traveling with her children and crossword puzzles. She once took an unforgettable trip to Montana with her good friend Beth, and reminisced about it often.

She was preceded in death by her father Maurice Ilan Copeland, her mother Virginia May (Slusser) Copeland, her youngest son Michael Ritter, and her friend Beth Nerger.

She is survived by her stepfather Albert Dinsmore of Moses Lake, brother Morry Copeland (Dick Dorisse) of Palm Desert, CA, children Gina (Jim) Weber of Ritzville, Elisabeth (Chris) Hardy of Beaverton, Patti (Bruce) Gering of Moses Lake, Barbara (Paul) Theroux of Long Beach, Margaret (Phil) Greer of Littleton, NC, and William (Lori) Ritter of Salem, six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

A celebration of life will be held in the spring when the flowers are in bloom. Memorials can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association at http://alz.org.