Donna Rae Loebaka
LOEBAKA, ELBERTS, KOSTALIK, STIPES, LOEBAKA, SCHREINER, WERNER, ROULEAU
Posted By: Sarah Fletcher (email)
Date: 1/26/2024 at 12:45:15
Donna Rae Loebaka of Iowa City, Iowa formerly of Hayward Wisconsin, passed away on Sunday, November 26, 2023 after a long and heroic battle with cancer. She died peacefully, with family and her cat Becky by her side.
Donna was born in Joliet, Illinois, the youngest of four children of Charles and Dorothy Elberts. She spent her childhood both in Joliet and living “on the farm” in Monee, Illinois. She graduated from Joliet Junior College with an Associates Degree in Accounting and went to work for Walter Nolan, where she would work until the move to Wisconsin.
Donna met the love of her life Stan (Skip) at the Snake Pit in Joliet. She played hard to get but eventually he won her over. He traveled home from Germany – where he was stationed – at Christmas to propose. They were married at St. John’s Church in Joliet on November 14, 1959.
Donna and Stan regularly vacationed in the Northwoods of Wisconsin and in 1969 purchased a resort on Chief Lake of the Chippewa Flowage with his parents Stan and Emily. It became known as Loebaka’s Resort. Many weekends and vacations were spent traveling north to fish, remodel cabins and enjoy some general relaxation.
In 1978 they took a chance and moved the family from Joliet to Hayward and opened Coast to Coast Hardware Store on Hayward’s Main Street. Donna ran everything in the “back of the house” while dad worked the front end. In her spare time she attended Chamber of Commerce Meetings and Volunteered as Head Starter for the American Birkebeiner for several years. She and Stan loved to socialize and were often out meeting friends at Lost Land Lake Lodge, Chippewa Inn and Tally Ho or golfing at Spider Lake Country Club.
In 2000, Donna and Stan sold the business and became Florida Snowbirds. There they relaxed by their pool, played golf and shuffleboard and enjoyed good times with visiting family and good friends. In 2014 they decided to move back to Wisconsin full time because that is what they loved; sitting by the fireplace with a snowstorm whirling outside in the winter and enjoying beautiful summer nights sitting on the deck enjoying a cocktail while looking at the Flowage listening to the Loons. She and Stan would bird watch, keep track of the fisherman and have an occasional black bear stop by and destroy the bird feeders. In 2021 Donna and Stan moved to Iowa to be closer to family and to manage health issues, but their heart was always on the Flowage.
Donna is survived by daughters; Laura (Mel) Kostalik of Port Charlotte, Florida, Danelle (Anthony) Stipes of Iowa City, IA and Kristina Loebaka of Eau Claire, WI, Granddaughters Emma Rae Stipes and Nadia Stevenson, and many GrandPuppies and GrandKitties. She is preceded in death by her husband Stanley, parents Charles and Dorothy Elberts (Schreiner), sisters Evelyn Werner and Marylou Rouleau and brother Charles “Buddy” Elberts.
A private funeral mass will be held for both Donna and Stan at St. Patrick Catholic Church, Iowa City.
Her remains will be laid to rest next to Stan at the Northern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Spooner, Wisconsin.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to support the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, Breast Cancer Research Fund to the University of Iowa Center for Advancement, P.O. Box 4550, Iowa City, IA 52244-4550. On the memo line or on a note attached, please indicate "Gift in memory of Donna R. Loebaka". Credit card gifts may be made at givetoiowa.org.
Donna loved to talk to people. Stan would wait for her patiently in the car so they could go home.
He has been waiting for her – and they are together once again.
Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service
Johnson Obituaries maintained by Cindy Booth Maher.
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