After more than 102 years, Donna Elizabeth Curie Mecham, our dear Mother, Grandmother, Great Grandmother, and Great Great Grandmother has come to the end of her Great Adventure here on this earth. Already she has started onto her next journey, delighted to be once again in the company of family and friends she has long missed.
Wow- 102 years! That’s a rare bird, and rare bird she was. Her son, David, long ago nicknamed her “The Shelbyville Warbler” in honor of her habit of greeting each day with a song, most often a very old-fashioned medley from her youth. She was always quick to laugh about her inability to carry a tune, but would just as quickly add, “That’s not going to stop me!”
Donna was born in the rural town of Shelbyville, Michigan on September 9, 1918 at the height of the Great Influenza Pandemic, which eventually killed more than 24 million people worldwide. Yet she grew up healthy and strong, adoring her little hometown of maybe a hundred souls. They were a tight knit bunch, and that served them well when the Great Depression arrived and changed their lives forever. All of this made Donna into what she calls “a tough little cookie”. Tough enough to march off to World War II—her generation’s next colossal challenge. Twenty-three years old and fresh out of nursing school, Donna joined the Army Nurse Corps. “I wanted to do my part,” she said. “I wasn’t married and raising children yet, so I felt I was in the position to step up and serve my country.”
She served as a 1st Lieutenant in the campaigns in North Africa and Italy, from the Fall of 1943 to the War’s end in 1945. One week after the war ended, she married Lt. Jack L. Mecham, who had served in her same outfit. They were married in Bologna, Italy on May 16, 1945. Their courtship had begun nearly three years earlier when they met on the train from Camp Cook, California to Camp Shanks in New York. As the train made its way to New York, Donna and Jack found themselves standing alone together whenever they could, leaning on the railing of the outside deck at the back of the train, talking and watching their former lives disappear as the tracks receded into the distance behind them. Donna’s fellow nurses began to tease her whenever they could saying, “Your boyfriend is looking for you.” Donna and Jack became what she often described as “constant companions.”
The newly married couple returned at the War’s end to Jack’s hometown of Salt Lake City, Utah. Donna’s transition from the rolling greenery and dotted lakes and ponds of the countryside around Shelbyville was made easier by the beauty of the Wasatch Mountains. Throughout her life, she would often pause and say with a far away look in her eyes, “Who would have ever thought that I would wind up living my life in the Rocky Mountains?” In those moments, her little hometown in Michigan was undoubtedly on her mind.
Jack and Donna raised four children in the home they made in Holladay. Roy, Cheryl, Becki, and David were the greatest treasures of her life. Donna’s distinguished career in nursing was always near the top of her list when she reflected on her accomplishments, but whenever she was recalling her joys and labors as a nurse, her kids could count on her finishing up those gentle reflections with a pause before saying, “But no, it is my children who brought me the most joy in my life.”
The little girl from Shelbyville wound up seeing a lot of the world in her 102 years. Certainly, the war years in North Africa and Italy took her far from home. Prior to the war, she had hardly ventured more than 30 miles in any direction from Shelbyville. She would tell us that at a young age she constantly daydreamed of the far away exotic places she was going to see. Hawai’i was the “magic” word; that was her big dream. Thanks to her daughter Becki, she would travel there a half dozen times or more, and Hawai’i would become a place she knew well. Included in her travels were trips to Micronesia, Saipan, and the Caribbean, all exotic in nature. Donna also visited Fiji twice with Becki and it became her favorite. Yet, she likewise loved the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon National Park. “I could look at this view forever,” she said more than once when visiting her son, David. In 2012, Donna moved to Southern Utah to live with David while he finished up the last few years of his career working in public land management. They lived in Cannonville, Utah (population 120, give or take a few), and she instantly was reminded of her tiny hometown of Shelbyville, Michigan. Donna had come full circle and the feeling delighted her.
Donna remained sharp, witty, and full of fun for her entire 102 years-long ride. Her great sense of humor was combined perfectly with her endless optimism. She was hard-working and determined, and never afraid of anything. Donna loved to read and learn, and valued education (a trait she passed on to her family). She was an avid reader of scholarly works her entire life, finishing her last book only a few short weeks ago. It is guaranteed that Donna has already found her next book to enjoy and she is excited about it. Her family can see her now… she has the novel in hand as she settles down in her new, comfortable chair—an old-fashioned rocker. Donna most likely has a bowl of popcorn at her side, and her old pal, Bennie the family dachshund, is snuggled in her lap. She will get to the book right away, but first, a few more stories and laughs with Becki, Roy, and Jack, and with all her family that she is excited to be with again.
Donna is survived by two of her children, Cheryl and David; two granddaughters, Lisa (Brian) Groneman and Emily (Sean) Freebairn; five great-grandchildren, Sophia (Jeff) Jackson, Mecham (Marissa) Groneman, Parker Groneman, Eliza (Stilman) Palmer, and Jacob Groneman; and three great-great-grandchildren, Rio and Exi Jackson, and Zella Palmer. She is preceded in death by her constant companion, Jack LeRoy Mecham and two of her children, Becki and Roy.
The Mecham family would like to extend their gratitude to Active Hospice and the nurses who cared for Donna during her last days of life, and to the friends and extended family who have sent their condolences.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, January 23 at 12:00pm at the LDS Chapel located at 2115 E Creek Road in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, with a viewing beforehand beginning at 10:00 am. If planning to attend, please physically social distance and wear a mask to keep yourself, and others, safe and healthy. Thank you.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Donna’s favorite charity, Smile Train.
