Donna Margaret (Adams) Allers passed away on the morning of December 8, 2023 in her room at a memory care residence in Hamden, CT.  She was 91 years old.

Born to Lois (Negley) Adams and Harold Adams on January 25, 1932, Donna was fond and proud of her "normal" middle American childhood.  She grew up in a bungalow on tree-lined Normal Avenue in Normal, Illinois, attended Normal Central Grade and Junior High Schools and graduated from Normal High School in 1947.  As her memory failed in later years, Donna's most cherished memories were of the characters and places of her youth: tagging along with her older brother Richard, playing paper dolls with her younger sister Alice, walking to school with neighborhood girlfriends, spending festive holidays and lazy summer days with her city grandparents a few blocks over and her country grandparents on the farm in Canton.

The day before she turned fourteen, Donna met a nice boy named Allan at a 4H roller skating party and asked him for "girl's skate."  The half hour they spent on the rink together led to a seventy-five year long, steadfast romance and partnership.  Because Donna's mother thought she was too young to marry, Allan and Donna eloped to Piggott, Arkansas where they were married in a minister's home on May 14, 1949.

The couple made happy homes together in Madison Wisconsin, Whittier California and Ontario Oregon before moving to Boise Idaho in 1968.  Over the next fifty years they spent in Boise, Donna and Allan became ambassadors of sorts eager to share the treasures of Idaho with anyone willing to visit.  Idaho became synonymous with "home" for Donna.  The two best friends moved to Connecticut in 2017 to be close to family there.  They spent nearly every moment of that time together comforting and propping each other up until Allan's death in October, 2021.

Donna was always into something.  She was a master gardener like her father.  She practiced needlework and loved music and playing hymns on her piano like her mother.  She practiced written correspondence with friends and loved ones as if it were a profession and crafted hundreds of hand-made Christmas cards each year for decades.  She studied alternative and natural medicine and lifestyle long before it was fashionable.  She was a pioneer of country, cozy home decorating and loved to hold court in her favorite "new room" with the blazing wood stove.  In all these things, Donna thought that sharing her passions with other people was more important than the outcomes.

Since she was a child, Donna aspired to be a homemaker and mother to a family.  It seemed an elusive goal at times, and twelve years passed between her marriage and the arrival of her first child, Danny.  But Donna had wished for four children, and that's exactly what she got: Dan, Ellen, Andrew and Don.  As a mother, she was absolutely devoted, involved, generous and caring.  She shared the benefits of her upbringing with her children; importance of family, strong sense of right and wrong, love of music, balance of self-esteem and empathy.   She also embraced (most of) the new-fangled pursuits of her kids.  Donna celebrated her children's successes and shared their failings as if they were her own.

In 1970, Donna gave her heart to the Lord - meeting for the rest of her life with the Bible Students of Boise.  After Allan retired, he and Donna both dedicated much of their time and energy to serving the Dawn Bible Students in New Jersey and traveled there regularly.  The two attended and served many conventions and meetings of the Bible Students at home in Boise, across the U.S. and abroad in Canada, England, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Israel.

Donna was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Alice, her brother, Richard, and her daughter, Ellen.  She is survived by her children, Dan, Andrew and Carole (Redmond), Don and Eileen (Otero).  She is also missed by her nine grandchildren who affectionately call her Oma.

Donna's family would like to acknowledge the many dedicated professionals that assisted with her comfort and care in recent years; most notably the excellent staff at Meadow Mills Assisted Living and Memory Care.  Donna's immediate family and the local bible student group will hold a visitation from 6:30pm-7:30pm and a service in her memory on January 10, 2024 at 7:30pm-8:30pm at Hamden Memorial Funeral Home, 1300 Dixwell Avenue, Hamden CT 06514. Condolences may be expressed at Hamdenmemorialfuneralhome.com.