Donna Vonne Martin (Veverka)

Martin, Donna Vonne (Veverka), age 95, of Xenia, Sugarcreek Township, passed away peacefully with her family by her side on Friday, January 11th, 2019 at her home. Donna was born January 12th, 1924 to Mamie Lora (Leck) and Raymond Joseph Veverka. Donna was beautiful, vivacious, intelligent, very knowledgeable, and had a sharp mind for details. During High School, she took “Normal Training for Teaching” and earned her teaching certificate there. After graduating with honors from Newton High School in Iowa in 1942, Donna taught grades one through eight in a one-room schoolhouse; riding her horse to and from school each day. Also, during high school, Donna took flight training with the Civil Air Patrol and made history as the first woman pilot to solo fly a prop airplane in Jasper County, Iowa. During WWII, Donna attended a private radio electronics school in Omaha, Nebraska where she specialized in teletype-communications. From Omaha she transferred to Wright Field near Dayton, Ohio to promote the war efforts in communications by processing US Army discharge documents. After WWII she worked for the Federal Government at the Veteran administration Office and later at Gentile Air Force Station. At the conclusion of WWII Donna met and married James H. “Jim” Martin, became a homemaker, and raised 5 children. She was a dynamo of energy. Donna was dedicated with all her heart as a wife, mother and homemaker. She loved to play with her children, especially outdoors snow sledding (she was known for her “giant snow-women”), ice skating, swimming in the pond, and hiking through the woods and over the hills. Coincidently on the day she passed, the snow began to fall and accumulated 10” during the two days. She would have loved it. Our family always had lots of visitors growing up, and she helped raise all the neighborhood children. A natural organizer, she transported loads of kids all over the Dayton Area to parks, historical sites, museums, circuses, horse shows, fairs, and amusements, etc. Whenever a parent would call on the telephone and ask, “Is my child there?”, Mom would respond, “Yes they are … somewhere!” No matter how many people were at our home at mealtime, she fed everyone a well-balanced meal. After growing up on an Iowa dairy farm, Donna raised much of our family’s food. She enjoyed gardening; vegetable, fruit and flower. Our family also raised a lot of farm animals, including a cow which she milked twice a day. She skimmed the cream off and made her own butter, buttermilk and cottage cheese. Donna was very knowledgeable about everything in nature, especially tree identification, and was quick to teach whatever she knew. Using her organizational skills, Donna was very active in our community. Having lived here 73 years, she filled many leadership positions in the church, school, scouts, 4-H, the Grange Hall and much more. She never stopped serving people throughout her life. Donna was patriotic to the United States of America, and kept her faith strong in God. Donna was truly a great lady! Donna was preceded in death by her parents; brothers George F. Veverka and Kenneth R. Veverka; sons David J. Martin and Donald L. Martin; and daughter Debra K. Martin. She is survived by her husband of 73 years James H. "Jim" Martin, daughter Linda S. Martin (Don Bowersock) and son Roger J. Martin (Sharon): 8 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren; a sister-in-law and many nieces and nephews. Donna was an amazing woman and will be greatly missed by all! To help the family celebrate her life, you are invited to share stories and memories during her visitation at Conner & Koch Life Celebration Home, 92 W. Franklin St, Bellbrook, on Saturday, January 19, 2019 from to 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. Her Life Celebration Services will be held at noon. Private burial at Dayton National Cemetery at a later time. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Hospice of Miami Valley, 46 N Detroit St, Suite B, Xenia, Ohio 45385 or plant a tree in her memory through www.ConnerandKoch.com, by clicking her name, scrolling and selecting "Place a Donation", then select the tab "Plant a Tree". You are welcome to order flowers share a story or memory about Donna at www.ConnerAndKoch.com by clicking on her name. Copyright Notice © 2019 (Conner & Koch Life Celebration Home) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This obituary is a work protected under international and federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reproduction, distribution or use of this material is prohibited. 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Donna Vonne Martin (Veverka)

January 12, 1924 - January 11, 2019