Donna Marie Gilmore Brown died peacefully with loved ones by her side Wednesday, November 29, 2023 at the age of 96. She was the first born to Charles and Juanita (Lowry) Gilmore, in Silverdale, Kansas. She attended Silverdale school until 8th grade before her family moved 9 miles to Arkansas City, KS. While in high school, she worked at a soda fountain for 35 cents per hour until the phone company called, offering 50 cents per hour for operators. Now she could buy a strawberry shake instead of making one!
She married Harvey Jay Brown on December 2, 1949 and together they had 2 daughters, Marsha and Judy. They lived in Arkansas City until moving to Eudora in 2007.
She helped support Brown Construction, where although she didn’t receive a paycheck she assisted with bookkeeping, running errands, and being a painter/stainer.
Donna loved to travel. She rode the train to California with her sister Betty when she was 19. Camping and boating trips happened every weekend while raising her family. She would laugh about just getting unpacked from the weekend to turn around and pack up again. She enjoyed water skiing and the cabin at Table Rock Lake. In later years, she loved roaming around with Harvey in their mini-home. Some of the trips they enjoyed were to Alaska, Arizona, Big Bend, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand. Traveling for her was not just a way to see new places, but a way to meet new friends and learn about people. She continued traveling following Harvey’s passing, including summer Colorado trips with Judy and many other family vacations. She was delighted at a trip to Europe with family and friends in 2014. She loved to “run away from home” and always encouraged her family to do the same.
Donna didn’t know a stranger. When a new neighbor would move onto the block she would march right down the street and introduce herself. It wasn’t long before she would become the “granny” of the block. Her outgoing nature allowed her to develop close and meaningful relationships throughout her entire life.
Donna loved to stay moving, both physically and mentally. She was going on walks until days before she passed. She had an openness to learning and was non-judgmental when it came to hearing about other ways of living than what she knew. She loved to go to new places and meet new people. She was hip and always stayed up on the times. She knew how to navigate her cellphone and always added a music note emoji to her messages. Her loving and accepting nature allowed her to develop close relationships with her great grandchildren despite the generation gap.
She would often share stories of unfavorable life experiences such as running out of gas in the boat and reference these events as “making memories”. These were indeed memories of life not going as planned, however enjoying the ride along the way and finding the beauty in the unplanned or undesired. A favorite “memory” was using the bucket in the garage as a toilet when the pipes froze. Granny somehow made this tragedy into a fun game.
Donna loved to be in community with others and enjoyed spending her time working at the food pantry, going to exercise class, and being an active member in church. She always thought of others and was genuinely interested in how people were doing. She always wanted to know what was going on in your life and checked on her neighbors, sometimes dropping off food gifts.
To know Donna was to love her. Her bright and joyful spirit was not only infectious but also inspiring. We will miss her beautiful presence, her sparkly barrettes, and her morning text with an inspirational quote or a picture of the weather forecast from the morning news.
She was preceded in death by her parents, siblings Jim Gilmore, Arlene Walker, Paul Gilmore, and her husband, Harvey. She is survived by her sister Betty Givens, daughter and son in law Marsha and Bill Gordon of Eudora, Judy Crandall of Austin, TX, bonus daughter and wonderful friend Sheila Gordon and wonderdog Kaz, 3 granddaughters Cody and Marc Epperly, Courtney and Daniel Taylor, and Amy and Eric Ames, and 3 great grandchildren Jaden (fiance Tyler Smith), Sydney, and Reagan, and many special nieces and nephews.
Services to celebrate Donna’s life will be held on January 13, 2023 at 2 pm at St. Paul’s United Church of Christ with a reception following at 3 pm at the Lodge in Eudora. Memorial contributions can be made to: Eudora Food Pantry or St. Paul’s UCC and may be sent in care of Warren-McElwain Mortuary, 120 W. 13th Street, Lawrence, KS 66044.
For more information or to post a condolence go to warrenmcelwain.com.
