Donna R. Adams Obituary (1934

Rio - Donna R. Adams, 80, passed away peacefully at Meriter Hospital on Friday, May 23, 2014 after a brief and courageous battle with cancer. She was surrounded by her loving family. Donna was born in Portage, Wisconsin, on April 13, 1934 daughter of George Willis and Dorothy "Irene" (Wescott) Amend. Donna lived in Portage until 1948 when she moved to Rio in the middle of her 8th grade year. She graduated from Rio High School in 1952. She married William R. "Dick" Adams on April 10, 1959, and they were blessed with two daughters. She worked at the Department of Transportation, Division of Motor Vehicle, in Madison for 36 years, where she was a supervisor in Inquiry. She met many lifelong friends there. She retired on January 24, 1992. Donna was a member of St. Joseph's Catholic Church and after retirement served on the Rio Village Board. Donna was an avid reader, enjoying a good romance or mystery. On any given day, you could stop by her home in Rio and she would be enjoying a good book. She loved visiting with her family - especially her morning visits with her brothers, Terry and Michael, and frequent visits with her sisters Audrey and Grace. She also enjoyed her bi-annual weekend-long visits from her niece Linda. Donna loved spending time with her daughters and grandchildren. She was so proud of their many accomplishments and spoke of them often. Her grandchildren were the light of her life. Although Donna lead a relatively quiet life, she did love to travel and some of her fondest memories were the times she traveled to Europe with her mother to visit her brother and to Las Vegas, Florida, Reno, Arizona and Lake Tahoe to visit her brothers, sister and nieces. She looked forward to her outings to Ho Chunk with her brother Michael and to Dubuque with her sister Grace and sister-in-law Dorothy. She also loved traveling to Las Vegas with her cousins Joan, Jean and Dorothy. She was deeply loved and will be dearly missed by her family. Donna is survived by her daughters, Julie Adams (Brian Hopp) of Columbus, Margaret "Peggy" (Dan) Strause of Rio; grandchildren Dominic Sanchez of Madison, Danny Strause and Mary Strause both of Rio and Joana Villar of Portugal; brothers Michael Amend (Rio), Terry (Kay) Amend (Doylestown), sister Grace (Dave) Hinzman of Rio, Sister-in-Law Dorothy Amend of Madison; special god-children Linda Schmuck of Siren, Theresa Gervasi of Oregon, and Stacy Castleberry of Madison and many other special and dear nieces, nephews, and cousins. Donna was preceded in death by her parents; husband William R. "Dick" Adams, brothers George, Robert, Joseph, David and Richard Amend, James Porter and Walter Hansen; sisters Bernadine Schulz, Willo Lynch, Audrey Landsverk; step-father Lawrence "Sporty" Porter, brothers-in-law, Richard "Knobby" Lynch, Carl Schulz; sisters-in-law, Marilyn Amend, Judy Amend, Wanda Amend and Sue Amend; and goddaughter Dona Rae Jensen. Funeral services will be held Thursday, May 29 at 10 AM at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Rio with Father Ray Dischler presiding. Private inurnment will be held at a later date. Visitation will be held Wednesday, May 28 from 4 to 7 PM at Smith Funeral Home & Cremation Service in Rio. Visitation will also be held from 9 AM until the time of service at the church Thursday. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Joseph's Catholic Church. The family wishes to thank Dr. Gage and the intermediate and palliative care staff at Meriter Hospital, for their compassionate care given to mom during her stay there. Also thank you to brothers Terry and Michael for the many, many things you have done for mom over the years. "Those we love don't go away, They walk beside us every day, Unseen, unheard, but always near, Still loved, still missed and very dear."2d:{"dateTime":"2014-05-28T16:00:00","