Donna Mae Wardrip

Donna Mae Walther, born on March 2, 1938, to William Dale and Ramona Louise Wardrip in Des Moines, Iowa, passed away in April 2025. She grew up in Des Moines until her family moved to Nevada, Iowa, when she was eleven. After graduating from Nevada High School, she attended Drake University, earning a Bachelor’s degree in education in 1960.

Donna taught fifth grade at Longfellow Elementary in Belle Plaine, Iowa, where she met the love of her life, John Walther. They married on May 27, 1961, in the Presbyterian church in Nevada and made their home in Ames, Iowa. Their first child, Kelley, was born in 1965, followed by Steve in 1967 and Kyla in 1969. The family lived in Princeton and then Renwick, Iowa, for seventeen years before settling in Slater in 1983. John passed away in 1993.

A devoted mother, Donna created a warm and joyful home for her children and later her grandchildren. She started the first Campfire Girls group in Renwick in 1974 and served as a leader for the Hiawatha Council for eight years. She was a longtime member of the Order of Eastern Star, belonging to the Gertrude Chapter and later chapters in Ames and Polk City for nearly sixty years. In 2008, she was honored to serve as Grand Chaplain for the State of Iowa, spending a memorable year traveling to events across the state.

Donna had a special gift for making holidays magical, especially Christmas with her fresh homemade donuts and the much-anticipated annual Easter Egg Hunt. She loved playing board games and card games with her family and taught her grandchildren to play “Heart and Soul” on the piano. In 2019, she moved to her independent living apartment at Wesley on Grand in Des Moines, where she formed many new friendships and was surrounded by people who cared for her until the end. She spent her final days in assisted living at Wesley on Grand, supported by hospice.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother William David, her husband John, her mother-in-law Pat Warnick, and her sister and brother-in-law Mary Lou and Chuck Kaufman. Donna is survived by her three children, Kelley Pudinski (Steve) of Cedar Rapids, Steve Walther (Shauna) of Huxley, and Kyla Walther of Knoxville, along with eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.