Donna May Turvey was born to Edgar and Pearl (Fairhurst) Lawrence in 1935 in Caldwell, Idaho. After her parents were divorced, she and her mother moved from Idaho to Williams, Oregon, in 1938 where James William (Bill) Turvey became her beloved stepdad. The three lived in a 2-room log cabin Bill had built with his own hands on 40 acres of land. Donna loved her years on the farmstead raising chickens, pigs, cows, and other animals, and their own fruits and vegetables. Although they eventually had running water thanks to Bill’s gifted ingenuity, they never had electricity. Despite these conditions, this was Donna’s Shangri-la. Her idyllic youth ended abruptly at the age of 13 when she and her mother had to move to Springfield, Oregon, after Bill was diagnosed with cancer and eventually passed away.

   After Bill’s death Donna grew up quickly, marrying her first husband, Verdis LaVor Morgan, in 1951 at age 15 and giving birth to a son ten months later. This marriage ended when their son was only two. Next, she married Charles (Chuck) Wilkerson and gave birth to two girls in 1957 and 1958. This marriage shortly ended in divorce as well. Around late 1962 she was wed to James (Bud) Waits. Donna and Bud welcomed the birth of a son in 1963. She surrendered her life to the Lord in 1967 and remained married to Bud until his death in 1990.

   Other than her early years in Idaho, Donna lived her entire life in Oregon, residing in Williams, Springfield, Cove Orchard, Lincoln City (Nelscott, Taft, Neotsu, Ocean Lake), Portland, Burns, Clatskanie, back in Portland, and finally, Wilsonville.

   One of her favorite places was the Oregon Coast, especially on a mild summer day with the waves and a gentle breeze. She loved all outdoors, flower gardening, and being around animals. It seems she always had one or more dogs to love and to love her back. For much of her adult life she devoted time and energy to operating a children’s daycare from her home. She touched the lives of many girls and boys and their young parents during those years. Later, she ran a doggy daycare bringing her enjoyment as she cared for other owners’ fur babies.

   Donna was preceded in death by her daughter, Cindy Myers. She is survived by her second daughter, Linda Linder; two sons, Larry Morgan and Bill Waits; and by seven grandchildren (Audrey Andrews, Viktoria (Tori) Hagebusch, Jon Morgan, Tim Morgan, Luke Myers, Tammy Preston, and Chantel Schmutz); twelve great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; and extended family members and friends.

   No public memorial will be scheduled. A private family gravesite gathering will be held on a future date. If you would like to share special memories or a personal message, please visit the “Tributes” section of this obituary.