Donna Tolson Hebner, born in Walnut Ridge Arkansas on August 7, 1945, died on April 15, 2024. She is survived by her husband of 55 years, Robert of Austin, her son and daughter-in-law John and Christine Hebner of Clayton, MO, son Thomas of Ridgewood, NJ and ten grandchildren, Thomas, Isabel, Monica, Cameron, Tate, Payton, Brendon, Tyler, Carly, and Kai.
She was the daughter of Air Force Technical Sargent Louis Tolson Jr. and Clare Schoener Tolson. She never knew her father who was killed before she was born when his plane was shot down over Germany near the end of WWII. She was raised by a single mother, who moved from her husband’s hometown in Arkansas to her hometown, Victoria Texas, after the war.
Donna graduated from Nazareth Academy in Victoria and earned an education degree at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, TX, where she also became seriously interested in her future husband who went to a different college in the same town.
After she taught children with special needs for a year in Leon Valley, TX, she and Bob began their 55-year married life together. They moved to Rolla, MO, where he was in graduate school and she expanded her insight into children with special needs by not only teaching in the school system but also as a teacher in a State-run diagnostic clinic.
Their next stop was Gaithersburg MD where Bob had a postdoc at what was then the National Bureau of Standards. There she matured as a teacher earning the Agnes Meyer, Teacher of The Year award, from the Washington Post for her work in the classroom, creativity, and contribution to the improvement of education. She also earned a master’s degree from the University of Maryland – College Park.
It was in Maryland she discovered her avocation, meeting and offering what help she could to people who were homeless. She made food for the homeless and managed an emergency overflow shelter. Most importantly, she made friends with countless people who were homeless in the DC area.
In 2000, she retired and moved to Austin to be with her husband who had joined the University of Texas at Austin. Building on her background, she became active in the St. Vincent de Paul Society both in their Thrift Store on South Congress and in helping individual families who were trying to stretch too few dollars to cover rent, food, and energy costs.
As her memory began to slip, she joined the Love Notes Chorus. The chorus shows year after year that the ability to learn songs and sing persists surprisingly far into the memory loss journey. This brings extraordinary joy and comfort to the participants and their families.
Visitation will be at Cook-Walden Chapel of the Hills funeral home, 9700 Anderson Mill Rd, Austin, TX 78750 on Thursday, April 18, 2024 from 6:00 – 8:00 pm. The funeral mass will be at St. Thomas More Catholic Church, 10205 N FM 620 #2210, Austin, TX 78726, on Friday, April 19, 2024 at 1:00 pm.
Donna led a life of persistent charity. But to mark her death, please send flowers in lieu of gifts to charity. And take a moment to realize flowers give an example of how beautiful life can be and how transitory life is.
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