Patricia Donaldson, 91, a resident of Sac City, Iowa for over 57 years died on Saturday, May 29, 2021 at Allure of Geneseo, Geneseo, Illinois. Patricia Frances Morrissey was born on Sept 12, 1929 to Edward C. and Katherine (Tyne) Morrissey in Amboy, Illinois. She grew up on the family farm and attended the Morrissey Country Grade School and graduated from Amboy High School in 1947. She earned a degree from Rockford Business College where she met her husband, Wayne Donaldson. They were married in Walton, Illinois, at St Mary’s Catholic Church in 1950. They lived in Rockford, Illinois, before Wayne’s new employment with Noble Manufacturing moved them to Sac City in 1960.
Pat raised five children in idyllic small town Iowa and became a contributing member of the community through her involvement in Boy Scouts, Campfire Girls, 4-H, Sac City swim team, the VFW Auxiliary, Loring Hospital Auxiliary, and Meals on Wheels. She was a valuable asset for all causes needing her creativity, sewing, baking or flower arranging skills. She loved her many years of playing in bridge tournaments.
Rooted in her deep Catholic faith, she generously devoted time to St Mary’s Catholic Church as teacher and director of religious education for over 20 years and lovingly arranged and cared for altar flowers. She would beg, borrow, or even steal an occasional blossom to augment a bouquet for the church. Her keen eye for flower design earned her many ribbons at the flower show at the Sac County Fair as well as several “Best of Show” awards. She also was known to pick the cherries all over town to make her prize winning cherry jam.
In retirement years, she enjoyed traveling with Wayne to WW II submarine veteran reunions, Green Bay Packer games, and would travel to see a grandchild in a concert, ball game, play, swim meet or opera whenever she could.
Pat was kind, friendly, and ready for a good laugh. She lovingly taught her children to use their talents in service to others, especially those less fortunate.
Pat is survived by her sons -Timothy Donaldson (Kim) of Wayzata, MN, Charles Donaldson (Marie) of Geneseo, IL; daughters - Janet Hart (Andrew) of Asheville, NC; Jackie Harvey (Bob) of Minneapolis, MN, and Joan Donaldson of New Zealand, and foreign exchange student, Rita Felicio, Sao Paulo, Brazil; grandchildren - Patrick Donaldson (Kelly) of Golden, CO, Laurel Donaldson (Ben Fifield) of Peoria, IL, Garrett Donaldson (Allison) of La Crosse, WI, Rebecca Hart of Savannah, GA, Nathan Hart (Julia) of Fontainbleu, France, Abigail Hart of Silver Springs, MD; John, Joseph, Seamus, Daniel, and Liam Harvey of Minneapolis, MN; great grandchildren - Alicia Donaldson and Noah Donaldson; and sisters - Lu Burke, Dixon, IL, Julie Appleman, Moline, IL, and many nieces and nephews and extended families.
She was preceded in death by her parents, husband and two infant sons - Daniel and William; grandchildren - Kelsey and Kevin; her sisters - Mary Frances Morrissey, Kay Muldoon, Jane Morrissey, Joan Hagaman; and brothers - William and John Morrissey.
A visitation is scheduled for Friday, June 4 at 5:00 - 7:00 pm with rosary beginning at 4:30 at Vandemore Funeral Home in Geneseo. A funeral mass will be held at 1:00 pm on Saturday, June 5, at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Sac City, Iowa. Burial to follow at Oakland Cemetery. Memorials may be made to: St Mary’s Catholic Church Flower Fund, 600 South 12th Street, Sac City, Iowa, 50583, (712) 662-7240