Whalen, Donna M. (1927-2014)

WHALEN, BABCOCK, HANSON, JACKSON, WITZKE, PEPPER, MEYER, PETERSON, FLANAGAN, BOOCK, HARTSHORN-PYLE

Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 10/7/2014 at 21:03:57

Donna M. Whalen
March 23, 1927 - September 16, 2014

Donna M. Whalen, age 87, of Storm Lake, Iowa, died on Tuesday, September 16, 2014, at the Methodist Manor Retirement Community in Storm Lake.

Donna Miriam Babcock was born to Guy Vernon and Alberta Mae (Hanson) Babcock at the family farm home four miles northeast of Galva, Iowa, on March 23, 1927. Baptized and confirmed at the Galva Methodist Church, she graduated from Galva High School in May, 1944. On September 15, 1946, she married Kenneth Whalen at the Galva Methodist Church. Subsequently, they were blessed with three children: Leonard, Phyllis, and Delbert.

Kenneth and Donna farmed near Galva until March, 1950, when they moved two miles north of Storm Lake, Iowa. They farmed this land for the next twenty-two years. Then, in February 1972, they moved into a home they built on Walnut Street in Storm Lake.

In the 1960s, Donna served as a girls’ 4-H leader for five years. The last year, she guided two groups of girls, first the older girls, and then, she started a younger group as well.

Over the years, Donna donated blood to the Red Cross and the Sioux Land Blood Bank. Indeed, throughout her life, she donated thirteen and a half gallons, an accomplishment in which she took a great deal of pride.

Donna’s hobbies included sewing, quilting, crafting, refinishing furniture, and collecting music boxes, birds, fowl, and dolls. Moreover she spent many hours in her later years putting puzzles together and playing cards. In addition, to help others and to keep her hands busy, she started sewing lap robes for veterans hospitals. She generously sewed wheel chair bags, laundry bags for the homeless, and school bags for the church.

Donna loved people in general. Her family and friends meant the world to her. Yes, she was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and aunt to many.

Those left to cherish her memory include her children and their spouses: Leonard (Ann) Whalen, of Renton, Washington, Phyllis (Donald) Jackson, of Storm Lake, Iowa, and Delbert (Vicky) Whalen, of Linn Grove, Iowa; her grandchildren: Brian (Jill) and Edward Coleman (special friend, Sara Tyler) Jackson; Christopher Benjamin and Elizabeth Ann Whalen; and Shayla (Kent) Witzke; her great-grandchildren: Coleman Edward, Braden, Brittany, Brooke, and Sarah Jackson; Amelia Ann Whalen; and Becca, Brady, and John Witzke; her great-great grandchild, Leah Witzke; her brother, Eugene Babcock, of Ames, Iowa; her sisters, Shirley (Russell) Pepper, of Storm Lake, Iowa, and Vera Jean (Robert) Meyer, of West Des Moines, Iowa; her brother-in-law, Bud Peterson, of Galva, Iowa; and her sisters-in-law: Arlene Babcock, of Galva, Iowa, Ada Babcock, of Washington, Bonnie Whalen, of Des Moines, Iowa, and Maxine Flanagan, of Des Moines, Iowa; as well as many other relatives and friends.

Donna was preceded in death by her parents, Guy and Mae Babcock; her husband of fifty-three years, Kenneth Whalen, who died in December, 1999; her twin sister, Dorothy Boock; her sisters, Bonnie Hartshorn-Pyle and Lovice Peterson; and her brothers, Lloyd and Howard Babcock.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, September 20, 2014, at 2:00 p.m. at the Galva United Methodist Church in Galva, Iowa. Burial will follow in the Galva Township East Cemetery. Visitation will take place Friday, September 19, 2014, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake. In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been established. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements.

Copyright © 2014, Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Homes

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