Donna Conway

November 28, 1930 - October 17, 2022

Donna passed Oct. 17 at Avera Eureka Health Care Center. Private services will be held.

Donna Ramona Orth Conway was born November 28,1930 to Emil T. and Katie Beck Orth at the home of her maternal grandparents, east of Mound City, South Dakota.

She grew up on her parents’ farm east of Herreid, South Dakota, where she at- tended Worms rural school and later completed her schooling at Herreid where she graduated from High School in 1949.

Soon after her high school graduation she became involved in county government serving as deputy county auditor, and then another term as deputy county treasurer.

In 1954, she made a change to state government in Pierre, South Dakota, where she worked for the Department of Public Welfare. Later, she accepted a position with the Secretary of State and then on to the Pierre Medical Clinic where she was employed until her mar- riage to Howard Conway on September 18, 1955.

After their marriage, they went to live in Tioga, North Dakota. Donna went to work for the Oil Field Service Company as a secretary and dispatcher. Tioga was a “boom” town; oil had been discovered and Tioga was also very cold and they decided to move to California. In Cali- fornia, she found temporary work at a toy store in Sacramento; then at the Guild Winery, and then she accepted a permanent job at Rice Bros., Inc. (a ready mix concrete business) where she would do payroll and some dispatching.

Everything seemed to be falling into place, but she was still a South Dakota person who wanted to go “home.” In the fall of 1956, they were back in South Dakota living on her farm her grandfather Peter Orth had homesteaded when it was still Dakota Territory. Wolff Bros., Inc. at Eureka, South Dakota, were looking to hire a book- keeper for their grain and produce business and Donna went to work for them for the next seven years.

Now it was time for Donna to be- come a full-time farmer’s wife, which meant operating tractors and doing whatever needed doing.

In 1964, Michael Kent was born completing our family.

Donna would now serve as clerk of the Worms School District until the district was dissolved. This was the same school she had attended as a child. Now, she was also the first woman in Campbell County to serve on a school board.

In 1959, Donna became a member of the Baptist Church at Herreid. She was very busy with church activities. She served as a Sunday school teacher for many years, as well as teaching Bible school and teen Bible study. Also serving as church clerk, church treasurer, church reporter and Sunday school superintendent over the years. She was also a member of Women’s Missionary Society and church choir.

Donna’s love of music started early in her life when her dad taught her to play the guitar and sing. It was singing “Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam” at the Herreid Baptist Church and “Come Sit by My Side Little Darling” (among others) at the Amateur contests at Herreid on Saturday nights. Among her souvenirs is the guitar pick she used. Her love of music grew with her marriage to Howard and their singing of duets at Church Services, funerals and other events. The singing with the Campbell County Community Choir meant a great deal to her. In her spare time, she wrote devotionals for “Moments With God,” and in 1979 she became a charter member of the Go- For-Ettes Extension Club. In 1981, she became county president of the Women’s Extension Clubs, as well as serving on the county extension board. In 1984, she was elected secretary-treasurer for District 6 and in 1985 she was appointed as State Project Leader for Citizenship and Community Outreach. She also served as the key person in Campbell County for the Legislative Alert Committee.

n 1985, Donna had to make time for something different in her life when they found she had colon cancer. After surgery and radiation treatments it was under control and life went on. In 1986, she was elected to the Board of Direc- tors of the Eureka Community Hospital in Eureka.

In 1992, Stan Hieb, owner of Hieb Excavating and Trucking, called Donna asking her to come to work for him as his bookkeeper. She went in for an inter- view and stayed on as an employee until he retired in 2000. For a time, she did part-time book work for Obenauer Construction and Kappas Trucking. Preceding her in death was her husband, Howard, in 2009; and her parents.

She is survived by her son Mike Con- way; granddaughter, Kayla (Conway) Czmowski (Randy); and two great- grandchildren Treyvon & Tallie Czmowski.

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