Donna Kay Rushing (Courtney), "Mom", "Grandma", "Donnie" or "Donna Kay" as many knew her, was born at the tail-end of The Great Depression on an acreage out in the country of Oklahoma City on a beautiful October day in 1937. She was the fourth arrival in a string of sisters and a brother with another sister to soon follow, sporting beautiful blonde curls and gorgeous blue eyes.

Donna wrote and spoke fondly of her childhood memories on their family plot of land in Oklahoma City, part of which her parents donated to their church to rebuild after a fire. She and her siblings Twila Faye, Valla Rae, Eddie Lee, and Sondra Gay raised chickens, had fresh eggs, pigs, horses to ride and care for, and a dairy cow named Daisy that gifted the family "beautiful squares of butter!"

Donna's mother, Leola Retha Mabes, loved to read and write poetry; she was always busying her hands with crochet or cards, and planted fragrant sweet peas on the trellis of the driveway of their childhood home. Donna was a self-professed "daddy's girl," accompanying him any chance she had and learning how to drive at a young age to help him with errands. Her father, John Edward Courtney, would share his fried sweet bread and egg sandwiches with her and she liked to eat just about anything he would eat. Donna enjoyed the young freedom of her father teaching her to drive and work on motorbikes, tractors, cars, and trucks.

Donna's childhood was filled with their devotion to the Baptist church where they found themselves morning and night, and helping to plant the family garden every year—summers where she was climbing trees, riding bikes, and listening to the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday nights.

Donna was only seven when the great tornado of April 12, 1945 hit. She retold schoolteachers' stories of seeing her home floating in the air, "like something from Wizard of Oz"—a uniquely Oklahoman experience that she would describe often and no doubt helped to shape her spirit of perseverance, strength, gratitude, and love.

Having dated since the ninth grade, Donna married Don Rushing in 1955 with a "huge church wedding and reception." They were young and working long, hard hours, but they bought a new home and a 64 ½ Mustang off the showroom floor. They were happily married for 40 years before Don's passing in June 1995.

They welcomed their daughter, Jeanne, into the world in December 1956, with hair "the color of copper and a beautiful complexion." Donna was delighted in the knowledge that her daughter was "industrious" just like her; Donna loved being her mother. Jeanne and Donna exchanged the same birthday card to each other for 30 years!

Donna graduated from Southeast High School in 1955 and remained close with those in her graduating class, over time taking on the role of her class communicator. She would coordinate the alumni reunions, organizing luncheons for former classmates and other attendees to come together in remembrance and continued life celebrations. You would probably find her visiting for hours in the dining area of Pioneer Pies on those days. In the 80s and 90s, Donna was a member of the Sooner Model A Club and the Corvette Club with her husband Don.

Admittedly, Donna would say that she didn't remember her grandparents very well, and had "absolutely no experience being a grandparent–I just wing it and hope for the best!" With 4 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren, she definitely had to wing it, but her nurturing intuition made it seem like a natural and easy transition. And in keeping up with all of those she loved going in different directions, along came the sweatbands!

Donna wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty and her parents supported her independent ethic, which enabled her to soar effortlessly, professionally and personally. She had an array of experience: being secretary for an oil company on SE 29th street, a bookkeeper at TG&Y, car hop at Tinker Air Force Base, manager of the shoe department at Foley's, cosmetic consultant, and selling movie tickets. She could also put on her resume that she has the ability to convince anyone that the best hot dogs came from Capitol Hill.

Retiring from teaching in 2000 after 28 years, Donna would always say that she loved every minute of her teaching career and missed it every day. Graduating from the University of Central Oklahoma, she completed her degree in three years and graduated with three different degrees in Special Education with master hours as a Reading Specialist. Donna was part of the National Honor Society, Alpha Chi, and a member of Kappa Delta Pi. Donna taught at her alma mater, Southeast High School, and served as head of the department for 14 years until being approached to work at the new vocational school, Metro Tech's Springlake campus, for an additional 14 years. While at Southeast and the vocational college, she was a guest lecturer at the University of Central Oklahoma and a master teacher mentor for younger teachers, or supervised practicum students in an educational setting.

Meeting in a teachers lounge at Metro Tech in 1997, "a very nice looking man" named Douglas Weeks asked Donna to dinner and she accepted. They shared their life together thereafter for 25 years.

If you found her idle, one of Donna's favorite things to do was listen to music. She loved jazz music and had an affinity for the classics and crooners, especially Tony Bennett and Michael Buble. A car ride with Donna might also be accompanied by Christmas music, no matter what time of year it was. She liked to listen to anything that lifted her spirits. Her order was half sweet tea, half unsweet with no lemon, please. She enjoyed "warm sunshine and a good cup of morning coffee", emojis, spinach enchiladas, spearmint gum, bread pudding, fresh garden tomatoes, and spending time with her family.

Despite family and friends spread to every corner of the United States, Donna always kept in touch—she loved email and her iPhone. She enjoyed a call just to chat and never got rid of her landline. Oklahoma City was the place she called home, and the walls of her home continue to exude the love of a matriarch we will miss so dearly.

On February 3rd, 2024, the sun rose, and she was reunited with her father, her mother, her sisters, her brother, and those that missed her too.