Donna Pierce

A Mother's Life Remembered Donna Jean Turner was born May 7th, 1931 in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, the only child of Catherine Wallace and Donald Clarence Turner. Even as a child, she enjoyed gardening, a skill she honed for years. She excelled at school, receiving the Governor General of Alberta's Academic Medal, given to the best student of the year in Lethbridge. She went to the University of Alberta School of Nursing, where she was honored with the Gold Medal in Nursing, graduating with her RN in 1952. She had sky blue eyes and a gleaming smile, which did not go unnoticed by a young doctor, G. Barry Pierce. She ran into him with the med cart at the hospital, and they were engaged 3 weeks later, the beginning of a 63 year love story. They moved from Edmonton to Pittsburgh to Ann Arbor to Denver, and as Barry's career flourished, so did their family. Mom and Dad had 5 children, Don (Lorraine), Helen (Alvin), Gordon (Melanie), Trish (Sue), and Tom (Diana). Grandchildren include Phillip, Shona, Erin, Annie, Aubrey, Emily, Sarah, Greg, Doug, Brian, and Christopher. In their spare time, they traveled the world, including Canada, France, England, Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Egypt, Israel, Japan, and Russia. Donna loved Scrabble, crosswords, reading, and bridge, especially savoring ""the right to say shut up"" when the victor! She was an avid member of the Faculty Wives Club at the University of Colorado and was a frequent volunteer in the Hospital Gift shop. She made the best turkey, potato salad, flank steak, chicken cacciatore, meatloaf and Maggie Olson's Cheesecake. She had a wicked sweet tooth. Her home, inside and out, was a reflection of the love she had of flower gardening, fragrant roses, brilliant geraniums, poppies, and perennials. Despite life-changing adversity in her younger life, she emerged a vivacious, fun-loving Mom and will be dearly missed by her children and grandchildren, who also celebrate that she is reunited in death with the love of her life, Barry.