It is with broken hearts that we announce the loss of our family’s beloved matriarch, Donna Jean Foster of Rocklin, CA. She died unexpectedly in Sacramento on August 31, 2022 while in recovery from spinal surgery.
Donna Jean Foster—or DJ, as she was known to most—was born Donna Jean Weece in December, 1942 in Los Angeles California to Gerald DeVane Weece and Ruth Jane Weece. A vivacious young spark, she spent the majority of her early years in the Los Angeles area. As a youngster in the 40s and 50s, this rambunctious tomboy traveled freely throughout the western states by train, courtesy of her father, a railroad engineer with Southern Pacific. She got into dirt clod fights with the neighborhood boys and climbed trees and defied the rigid expectations of a mid-century American girl. She attended Roosevelt Junior High School in Glendale, and later Glendale High School, where thanks to her daddy’s guidance, she began a lifelong tradition of self-reliance and suffering no fools. With the blessing of her father, DJ left home at 16 to forge her own path forward. DJ car-hopped at the legendary Bob’s Big Boy in the late 50s. She raced stock cars at Irwindale Speedway while living in the San Fernando Valley in the 60s. She also spent a season in the San Francisco Bay Area following The Summer of Love, where she participated in anti-war demonstrations, very likely with flowers in her hair. In the early 70s she relocated to Lake Tahoe briefly where she worked in hospitality at Harrah’s casino, but high-tailed it back south after a winter with 8-foot snow drifts. Shortly after returning to the LA area, she met and married Bruce Savolainen, and after some time working in the restaurant business slinging plates to local LA celebrities, she became a full-time homemaker. As the kids got a little older, she went back to both working part-time and continuing to create a home for her family full-time. Throughout her life DJ was exceedingly active in her kids’ extra-curricular activities. She applied her magnificently abundant creativity, sewing, and crafting skills to school pageants, costume contests, as well as DeMolay and Cub Scout activities, starting in kindergarten and continuing on through high school and beyond. Her passion for crafting, sewing, gardening, and creating charming home decor continued right up until her last days.
DJ co-founded the retail business AAA Billiards with Mr. Savolainen in Los Angeles in 1983. She continued to make a welcoming home for her children to live and play after relocating the family from Glendale to Agoura Hills in the late 80s. Ms. Foster earned an Associate of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education from Glendale Community College in 1982, a real estate pre-licensure degree from LA Valley College in 1988, and an Associate of Science degree in Legal Assisting in 1992 from Oxnard College. She received her DRE license in 1989 and worked for the Ventura County DA as a paralegal investigating real estate fraud. Following her divorce from Mr. Savolainen, Ms. Foster took on a family surname from an earlier generation, packed up the kids, and headed north to Rocklin, thereby establishing a household in 1992 to be closer to her cherished and aging father. There she launched her distinguished 30-year profession in real estate sales, helping countless families find and sell their homes throughout the greater Sacramento region. Over the majority of her industrious career, DJ worked for Century 21, where she received the prestigious Centurion Producer award in 2002. She continued to serve her loyal client base with eXp Realty beginning in 2019. As she did with her lifelong friends, DJ maintained decades-long relationships with her clients and colleagues throughout her real estate career, many of which themselves naturally parlayed into close personal friendships. She simply loved talking to people and making connections. This special quality of hers filled every moment of her life, from chatting up the stranger in the grocery store line, to communicating with her clients, co-workers, and of course daily conversations with her loving family and closest friends.
Anyone who knew or met DJ would agree: she was an unforgettable force of nature. A spirited firebrand. A hopeful idealist and a vigorous feminist. A true classic and an absolute character. She was as spontaneous as she was adventuresome. We will all remember her for her sassiness, her wit, and her lioness tendency to take absolutely no BS from anyone. We will forever miss receiving her effusively jubilant expressions of affection, love, and joy. We will reach to find our way forward using the wisdom, insight, and guidance she imparted to us, earned through a life rich with experience and overcoming adversity. From an early age, she endured many life-altering losses that would continue throughout her years. We will always revere how she carried her grief and confronted life’s hardships with authenticity, strength, and resolve. It takes a special kind of person to live out her joy while at once bearing a certain sadness. The sound of her giggling laughter, the signature of her natural silliness and her hilariously vibrant sense of humor, will continue to echo within our own laughter. We will never forget her many stories—most likely because she repeated them all at least four or five times like it was the first time. DJ was kind, she was protective, and she was brave. She embodied a rare determination, an awe-inspiring work ethic, and a gritty sense of self-reliance. She was a light, and she was a beacon, and she was home. Our world will forever shine dimmer now without her radiant and winning smile.
DJ gave so generously of herself every day, and could always be counted upon to be totally present and supportive for her friends and family; such was her profound dedication to the ones she loved. She was a loyal daughter, a devoted mother, an overwhelmingly loving grandmother, and a best friend to many. She is survived by her daughter Nancy Singleton-Watanabe (born Jeri Lynne Rogers), sons Jason Savolainen and Jeffrey Savolainen, grandchildren Melissa Watanabe and Max Savolainen, and brother Gerald Weece II. With her heartbreaking passing she rejoins the departed company of her parents and her firstborn son John W Savolainen.
DJ loved unconditionally, she loved big, and she loved with her whole heart. Her family was her life’s work. She spoke often that her proudest accomplishment and greatest joy were her children. DJ loved being a mother and a grandmother. She was an extraordinary example of selflessness, thoughtfulness, and generosity to everyone she cared about. Her most iconic character trait was that she was constantly thinking of others and putting the needs of her loved ones before her own. She was a gift to all of us. Let all of us who knew her carry her forward, inspired within the best parts of us. Let us all reflect the love she gave us back into the world. This is her legacy.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Donna J Foster’s name to The ASPCA and Planned Parenthood. She was a lifelong and doting dog mom, and an unshakeable advocate for women’s reproductive rights and bodily autonomy. Family and friends will attend her private memorial in Rocklin in early December, near what would have been her 80th birthday. Please contact [email protected] for more information. DJ made it clear that no mourners were to attend her memorial, but that rather we were to celebrate her and the many lives she lived on her own terms. She demanded a full-scale party in her honor, and we will be throwing her one worthy of her luminous spirit and beautiful life. Her family will commit her ashes to the sea—joining those of her son John—off the coast of Southern California at a future date.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.LambertFuneral.com for the Foster family.
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