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Donna Reifenrath
HARTINGTON — MaDonna M. “Donna” Reifenrath, 91, Hartington, died peacefully surrounded by her family Sept. 22, 2023, at South Lake Village, Lincoln. Mass of Christian Burial will be Sept.28, 2023, at 10:30 a.m., at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Hartington, with the Rev. Owen Korte officiating. Burial will be at St. Michael’s Cemetery, Hartington. Visitation will be on Wednesday, at church, from 5 to 8 p.m., with a vigil service at 7 p.m., and will continue Thursday, one hour prior to services. Pallbearers are eight of Donna’s granddaughters, Alea Reifenrath, Amber Kramer, Megan Asselin, Melanie Leise, Katie Wintz, Carrie Brown, Katherine Reifenrath and Tessa Boesiger. Arrangements are under the direction of the Wintz Funeral Home in Hartington. Donna Reifenrath was born Oct. 26, 1931, in Beaver Creek. As a young girl, her family moved to the family farm near St.James. She graduated from Mount Marty High School,Yankton, S.D., in 1949. Donna married Joe Reifenrath April 11, 1950, at Sts. Philip and James Catholic Church,St. James. Together they celebrated more than 69 years of marriage and were blessed with nine children.
Donna was a member of the Holy Trinity Guild,the Catholic Daughters of America and the St. James Altar Society. While at St. James Parish, she also served as an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist.
At East Catholic Elementary School, Donna worked in the cafeteria and helped to supervise recess. Along with working at school,she was also the heart and soul of the family farm. While raising her nine active children, she loved gardening, picking wild berries for jelly and even running the wind rower.Her least favorite thing to do was ironing. Donna cherished her time with her grandchildren and lovingly crocheted a baby blanket for each one of them when they were born. She also loved hosting gatherings for her family and card club friends.One of her favorite things to do was to spend an evening at the local dance hall,dancing the night away with her husband, Joe. Donna loved to bake. She would provide her family with an endless supply of baked bread, sticky cinnamon rolls, cowboy cookies and apple pie.Her homemade bread was something no one has ever been able to duplicate. She also made sure that each of her children had a special homemade birthday cake on their birthday, made especially for them. One of Donna’s many blessings to her family was teaching each of her children to pray.This was most evident in the prayers the family prayed after supper every night. It was at this time the bedtime prayers were also said, so as to make sure they were not forgotten.
Donna and Joe retired from the farm and moved to Hartington inApril 1994. In her retirement years, she enjoyed gathering with her friends for bowling league and neighborhood card club. In August 2017,Donna and Joe moved to an Assisted Living community in Lincoln. There she enjoyed her weekly bingo games.
Donna will be greatly missed by her family, Tom (Janette) Reifenrath, Eagle; Kathy (Tom) Roemer, Leavenworth, Kan.; John Reifenrath, Lincoln; Joe (Carol) Reifenrath, LaVista; Mary (Jeff) Leise, Hartington; Nancy (Jeff) Asselin, Lincoln; Don (Penny) Reifenrath, St. James; Mike (Sarah) Reifenrath, St. James; son-in-law Ron (Jill) Griess, Yankton, S.D.; 27 grandchildren; 35 great-grandchildren; sister, Rosemary Wieseler; and sister-in-law, Anita Potts.
She was preceded in death by her parents,Alois and Evelyn Potts; husband, Joseph Reifenrath; brother, Jim and wife, Leona (Potts) Petersen; brother, Bob Potts; infant brother, John; brother-in-law, Larry Wieseler; daughter, Jean Marie Griess; daughter-in-law, Jolene Reifenrath; and infant grandson, Matthew Reifenrath.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Monsignor Werner Endowment fund.
