LaDonna Ruth Nash

LaDonna Ruth Neill Nash went home to God on July 3, 2024. How do you distill a life like LaDonna’s into a few paragraphs of dates and memories? Let’s follow the advice of “The Sound of Music’s” Maria who tells her charges “Let’s start at the very beginning. A very good place to start.” (She loved this movie) LaDonna Ruth Neill was born on 12 October 1940 in Alhambra, California, to John and Lucy Neill. She was the oldest of four children to grow up in El Monte, California. Her first three months found her in treatment at the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles for a blood tumor that closed her eye at birth. Her father, John, was a chef and the family moved at times to follow his work. She has many cousins in Southern California.

LaDonna had a lifelong love of music and performing which started in 4th grade playing the violin. She played in the school orchestra and with her sister and brothers as part of the Neill Family Quartet. She also met her future husband, Darrell, who passed away last July, in grammar school. They started dating in high school. Their high school years were spent at Oceanside Carlsbad High School where they went to sock hops and ball games. They became engaged on her graduation night. When LaDonna showed her mother the engagement ring, she told her to “Tell him thank you and give it back.” Darrell and

LaDonna married on Thanksgiving Day in 1960 and celebrated 62 years married. Sons Scott and Darren arrived in 1964 and 1970 respectively. After graduation in 1958, LaDonna attended Pepperdine University as a music major. Tuition was very expensive so off to Oceanside Carlsbad Junior College it was. Her junior year was at San Diego State and she graduated from Long Beach State in 1966. With all that transferring, she only lost 4 units of Bible study and stayed the course for her teaching degree. She began teaching in Cypress in 1966 and when the family moved to Paso Robles in 1977, she taught kindergarten and first grade at Winifred Pifer. She earned the Teacher of the Year in 1985. She and her fellow women educators of Alpha Mu brought Books For Babies to Twin Cities hospital for a time in the late 90s. Every newborn went home from the hospital with a book. She retired when Darrell retired, but continued to be a substitute for a few years after. When her grandchildren started at Pat Butler Elementary, she volunteered weekly when not traveling. She often brought music and/or instruments and gave the kids a chance to perform. When she wasn’t able to be in class, she would help in the Butler library.

LaDonna and Darrell were involved in many civic and social endeavors. If he was President, she was always his secretary and partner. From the car clubs to Kiwanis to Elks, she was active and involved with a smile on her face and in her eyes. As secretary, she kept up with rosters, newsletters, meeting minutes, and embraced technology with a willingness to adapt to the constant changes. She also had her fellow teachers’ organization, Alpha Mu, and the Retired Teachers group where she assisted in selection of scholarship applicants. Since the loss of Darrell, she had returned to church, attending Grace Baptist regularly. Her church family was fantastic about visiting when her health landed her in the hospital in June. Tradition played a big part in LaDonna’s life. She loved to celebrate birthdays, Christmas, Easter, and planned for family meals on most other holidays.

A favorite trick to play on LaDonna that became tradition is for everyone singing the birthday song to sing in different keys at different speeds. She would simply shake her head. She was a fixture at Paso Cemetery for Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day with lunch at La Mexicana to follow. Going out to lunch was a lesson in patience as invariably she would be stopped by former students or parents, fellow teachers, civic leaders, and the many volunteers she worked with over the years. As many teachers do, she had all the themed shirts and earrings and required matching shoes. Patriotism was in her blood and she had all the decor to celebrate. Pink has been her favorite color these past few months. As the seasons changed, so did her displays at her home. She preserved many memories in beautiful scrapbooks that honor her family roots, show off the grandchildren, and detail their frequent camping trips and other travels. Games were at the heart of family. She took no prisoners in Scrabble, taught Grump to the granddaughters, played dominoes with her grandsons, and ate meals with Yahtzee underway. She and her cousin Jan would stay up past midnight playing rummy tile. Her parents and cousins brought a domino game from Texas called 42 to California and she played frequently with family. When nobody was available to play games, she played Words With Friends on her phone and Kindle. She also read many books until her eyes grew weary. She loved to watch the Hallmark channel, especially Christmas in July. Her father was a chef and she watched him carefully to write down the recipes she loved including turkey soup, mac and cheese, and a variety of salads. She made cherry pizza, orange stuff (sunburst salad), many types of cookies, and A Good Dessert (hard to explain but delicious). She always said that a teacher’s lounge was a great place to learn new dishes. As has been remarked upon earlier, music was an enormous part of LaDonna’s life. She played with the Neill Family Quartet when young and joined the Pioneer Players in Paso Robles. She was very involved with the Pifer Mini Singers, taking over from Pat Butler. She played the piano and taught her grandkids a few songs to play, especially at Christmas. She brought the auto harp to school sometimes on her days working in the grandkids’ classes. She loved and attended every play at the schools that she could.

LaDonna is survived by her two sons, Scott (Susan) and Darren (Jessica). She has four grandchildren, John (24), Halle (22), Cassie (12), and Carson (9). Her brother, Tom Neill, lives in Paso Robles, and sister, Jane Wamsley, lives in Carson City, Nevada. She has several cousins, nieces, and nephews as well. Her smile lit up every room she was in. She will be dearly missed.