Donna Lynn Piatt Craig

Donna was born in Portland, Oregon, the first child of Don R. & Bernice (Hoffman) Piatt. They lived in Parkrose, a suburb north & east of Portland, in a white cottage on a quiet street. Her best friend Pauline lived nearby, and they remained friends all of her life.

Donna was the apple of her daddy’s eye – she was named for him, after all – and she remained a loving and caring daughter throughout his life. She must have loved those first few years as the only child.

Within 2 or 3 years, brother Bil (William Clyde) joined the family, and Donna’s caretaking ways were born. She was so good as a “mother’s little helper” that when sister Mary Lee and another brother Norman Bruce were born several years later, her mother came to rely on Donna for a great deal of assistance in babysitting, meal preparation and cleanup, and housekeeping chores. Her mother was involved in many church and charity activities, so Donna spent a good part of her childhood in a caregiving role, perfecting those qualities that made her such a good parent and caring friend.

By high school, Donna was ready to break free. She liked to date boys who drove fast cars, and when one of them actually met with her parents’ approval, out he went. She was very fond of Rose Festival, and always made sure she was there to greet visiting sailors during Fleet Week. Her sister remembers at least one trophy white sailor’s cap, but it may have belonged to their foster brother Mike. Donna was active in the high school glee club and choir, and enjoyed music and dancing.

After graduating from Parkrose High School in 1960, she attended Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon, hoping to major in anthropology. She chose this field because she was always interested in learning about people’s stories, a theme she carried throughout her life. She left college after one year because as she put it, “finances were skimpy.”

Donna soon found work at Meier & Frank Department Store in downtown Portland where she worked for a couple of years. She and a girlfriend shared an apartment in southeast Portland, but she was soon joined by her brother Bil, who also worked at Meier & Frank.

In 1962 she found a professional career path when she went to work in the surety bond department at Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company. One of her proudest achievements was writing the construction lien for the Fremont Bridge in Portland. She hated traveling over bridges, but was proud that she had a part in the construction of one of the tallest bridges in the city.

It was during this time she walked into a small neighborhood grocery store and met a tall lanky guy named Dick. He soon asked her on a date and, as her children remember the story being told, she knew right away that he was “The One”. And he, as the story goes, also said he knew she was “The One”, although he was not quite ready to settle down. It took him another year to ask her on the second date! They were finally married on April 30, 1966.

Donna’s new husband came complete with a set of three children. Even with the first introduction of her to them, Donna created a safe and loving place for them to grow and thrive. At their first meeting, her new stepdaughter Tamara, convinced that this woman was going to steal her daddy away from her, locked herself in the restaurant restroom. Donna’s loving persuasion and good humor convinced Tam to come out. Tamara now believes, not only was she not stealing him away from her and her two brothers, but, because of her efforts over the years, their relationship with their father would not have blossomed the way it did.

Donna’s intuition about Dick’s and the children’s needs was indeed a gift. When the children were with them, she went above and beyond expected parenting to create a loving family home. She organized countless activities to keep them busy whether it was baking, cooking, playing board games or cutting out paper dolls. If they showed an interest she was right there with her support. Tam remembers a night when her brother Brian announced at dinner that he had a school project due the next day. His assignment was to make fudge from a recipe he received at school. Without skipping a beat Donna was searching the cupboards and then was off to the store to retrieve any missing ingredients. They were up quite late making the recipe, and it is remembered as the best fudge any of them had ever had.

And then there was the time during one of the great snowstorms that hit Portland on occasion. The children remember having a great time! Portland had been hit with alternating days of rain and snow with thaws and freezes in between. It brought the city to a screeching halt for two weeks. The children, however, were happily tucked into the house; there was no electricity, but there was the fireplace. The children were amazed to learn that you didn’t need a campground in order to prepare meals in a fire, the living room fireplace worked just fine. The responsibility felt by the adults was not shared by the children – they were gaily inviting all the neighborhood kids in for snacks, building igloos on the side of the house, and participating in everything Donna had planned to keep us busy. You see, Donna was a kid at heart and while her memories of this time would surely be different than the children’s, she too had a good time.

Donna’s intuition came into play again when she and Dick became grandparents for the first time. Yuki was born in 1983 and while Tam spoke to Donna three to four times a week about every little thing a new mother worries about, her father was really not ready to be a grandfather. At Donna’s urging, and when Yuki was six months old, Tam brought him to Puyallup. Walking off the plane, she handed Dick his grandson saying, “He’s not going anywhere so I think you should get to know him." Donna was beaming in the background as her guidance in connecting Dick to the next generation was complete.

And Donna was never the same – she loved being a grandma. Crafts and fingerpaint all over the house, she was right in there with them having the time of her life. When Tam was pregnant with her second son, Craig, and ordered to bed rest, she turned to Donna for help. Dick and Donna were in the middle of moving from Puyallup to Texas and Tam needed someone to care for Yuki for two months. “No problem,” she said. “He can come with me and we’ll make an adventure out of it.”

Donna’s commitment to family did not end with her immediate family. She had married the patriarch of the Craig family, and she and Dick never missed a birth, a wedding, a graduation, or celebration of any kind. In any family emergency, Donna was always available and would go wherever and whenever she was needed.

Donna had a great sense of humor and a real playful side to her. This was never more apparent than at Christmas. It took her an entire year to plan the next year’s surprises. The entire family looked forward to receiving Christmas from Dick and Donna. The packages were color-coordinated by wrapping paper and there was a specific order to opening them. The first item was always a disposable camera so that the surprise of the opening of each gift was recorded. Mail her the camera, she sent back pictures, and that way she was able to share in everyone’s Christmas. Instructions were included as to the opening of the other gifts according to the wrapping paper. Everyone would yell, “One, two, three, go!” and wrapping paper would go flying. You could always count on yearly calendars, handmade Christmas ornaments, something useful and something just for fun. The last gift was always a personal item picked especially for each person.

In addition to Donna’s love for family and Christmas, she loved to fish, travel, garden and enjoyed nature in general. Every spring the family would receive pictures of the new babies, be they deer, quail or bunnies that would meander through the back yard. Her excitement at watching a new cycle of life begin was contagious as she updated the grandkids on a weekly basis. The night of her passing, as Tam pulled up to the Craig’s house, a momma deer stopped in front of her car and looked into the headlights, pausing. Tam smiled and said “Hello Donna,” as it was a sure sign of welcoming her home.

As Dick and Donna were beginning their retirement years, Dick suffered a stroke and Donna’s life, again, changed forever. The family had always thought that D & D had postponed a lot of life, waiting for retirement, but when each of them was asked, they always said that they enjoyed their life together and had no regrets. Donna’s final commitment and devotion to her husband has been shown, without doubt, the past two years when Dick was no longer able to be at home and she visited him daily in the nursing home. Her love of family and commitment to Dick, always putting others before herself, allowed her own illness to progress to a place where she was unable to recover, and she has now joined her father, Don, mother, Bernice, brother Bill and brother Norm. Her family will forever miss her.

We each carry our own light within us, a light that can never be extinguished.

Knowing this, we need not be afraid of any darkness.

(card from Dick to Donna)

A memorial service has been held.

Arrangements under the direction of Powers Funeral Home, Sumner, WA.