Donna Maude Wallace

Donna Maude Wright, 94, was born April 26, 1929, in Garden City, KS, to Don Sr. and Maude (Campbell) Wright. She passed away Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023, in El Dorado Springs with her family by her side. Donna’s dad preferred to move every couple of years, so she spent most of her elementary years living in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri. She graduated from El Dorado Springs Missouri high school in 1947 and worked for a short time at Crown Drug in Kansas City before getting her teaching certificate from what is now Missouri State University. She taught at Hall School north of Jerico Springs until she married Gaylord Wallace on Nov. 24, 1948, at the home of Reverend Frank Calame in Jerico Springs. To this union were born four children, Lonnie, Jim, Sandy and David.

It was well known that Donna couldn’t tolerate sitting still and kept busy with sewing, crocheting, crafting, reading, doing crossword puzzles and gardening. During the winter months when she couldn’t garden, she would read, and watch TV mysteries series and would browse through seed catalogs anticipating the upcoming spring when she could sink her hands in the dirt once more. When she sat on her spot on the couch, she was always surrounded by pattern books, gardening catalogs, spare bits of yarn, crochet hooks, water bottles, scissors and a magnifying glass. She considered herself the utmost expert in picking the perfect watermelon or cantaloupe and fancied herself a bit of a carpenter and handyman. She loved radishes, ice cream, rye bread and junk food.

With the exception of living in Oregon during the Drought of 1954, Donna and Gaylord lived in the Osiris area for their 72 years of marriage before moving into Nevada in January of 2021. Even after moving into town, Donna kept busy at the Assisted Living Facility. She never met a stranger and made many friends in the first few weeks of living at the facility. She took over the raised bed gardens and prided herself in the vegetables and flowers she could provide to her neighbors. She held a tea party for her new friends and kept everyone entertained in the dining room with her various projects and antics. Her new friends and staff members would often ask each other, “What’s she up to now?” with a shake of their heads.

In March of 2022, she became homesick for El Dorado and bought a small house in town and continued to stay busy and had many visitors throughout the week. She continued to buy and plant flowers in the spring and summer.   

Donna lost her husband in April of 2021 and while she carried on without Gaylord, she missed him dearly and stated she was ready to go “home” whenever the Lord was ready for her.

Preceding her in death are her parents, Don and Maude; husband of 72 years, Gaylord; son-in-law, Sam; sister, Dolores, and brothers, Billy, Don Jr and Dennis. Left to mourn her passing are her children, Lonnie (Lola) of Jerico, Jim (Joyce) – Walker, Sandy – Lama,r and David (Nancy) – Nevada; three sisters-in-law; 11 grandchildren; 21 great-grandchildren; 22 great-great-grandchildren and many nieces, nephews and dear family friends.

Burial wasFriday, Dec. 29, at Brasher Cemetery in Jerico Springs.