Donna Carlson Hornibrook

Donna Mae Carlson Hornibrook, 85, an accomplished musician, teacher, collector, cook, entrepreneur, and extremely devoted wife, mother, and grandmother, died on May 9, 2014 at IU Health Bloomington Hospital after a long illness.

Born on June 6, 1928 in Thief River Falls, Minnesota to Anton (Tony) and Clara (Sollom) Carlson, she attended Steven’s College before transferring to St. Olaf where she performed with the world-renowned St. Olaf choir. Upon graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Music, she successfully auditioned to be a singer for Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians. With Waring, she performed on The Fred Waring Show, which ran on CBS and demanded perfect performances as it was broadcast live. She also performed as a soloist in one of Waring’s touring groups, Festival of Song, which had her traveling extensively, including a show at the White House for President Eisenhower. On tour, she was introduced to an accompanist, William Wallace (Wally) Hornibrook, whom she married in 1952.

In 1959, with their two small daughters, Donna and Wally relocated to Phoenix where Wally enrolled in graduate school at Arizona State University and accepted a position as Minister of Music at Crossroads Methodist Church. Donna began teaching piano at home while helping Wally at church, where together they developed several choirs of different ages, eventually totaling over 300 participants. Her career as a singer continued, including an operatic role as Gretel in Humperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel.”

In 1966, the family moved to Bloomington, Indiana where Wally had accepted a teaching position at Indiana University, eventually becoming Chairman of the Piano Department. Donna quickly resumed her piano teaching and also choral work at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, where Wally had also been appointed Minister of Music. During Wally’s 30-year tenure at St. Mark’s, Donna conducted several children’s choirs, began a youth bell choir, and directed numerous youth variety shows each year. Donna was also very active in various bible studies, and served as a leader for Bible Study Fellowship for many years.

In the early 1980s, Donna developed her lifelong collecting interest in dolls and dollhouses into a business. The business, W&D Mini Homes, identified an interest from dollhouse enthusiasts in Native American art from artisans Donna and Wally had known in Arizona. As sales improved, they developed relationships with established Native American artists and convinced them to produce serious works in miniature. They successfully marketed these works to dollhouse enthusiasts and art collectors all over the globe and the company became the preeminent dealer of miniature Native American art in the world, a classic example of a niche business decades before the Internet. During her travels to trade shows in Britain and Europe, they were able to nurture numerous relationships from their music careers and also created through Operation Friendship, an international youth exchange program for which they volunteered as a host family on numerous occasions.

Although devoted grandparents by any standard, after Wally’s death in 2002, Donna’s lavish attention became the stuff of legend. She became an ardent soccer (grand) mom and enthusiastically attended dance and harp recitals. As her health began to fail in recent years, instead of retreating from life, she advanced, continuing her ardent interest in travel by calling upon friends to accompany her on voyages often conjured up over dinner, and culminating in a magnificent voyage to England accompanied by an impressive entourage of caretakers that included her three grandchildren and several of their friends, who were rewarded for their attention with box seats to a Manchester United soccer match, complete with a formal catered luncheon on site.

She is survived by her daughter, Lisa Hornibrook-Marte’ and son-in-law, Ruben Marte’; three grandchildren, Robert, Adam, and Christina Marte’; three nieces and three nephews; and many great-nieces and -nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, W. Wallace Hornibrook; daughter Tina (Hornibrook) Jackson; and brothers Reuben and Glen Carlson.

A service celebrating her rich life will be held at 4:00 pm on June 6, 2014 at St. Mark’s Methodist Church at 100 N. SR 46 Bypass, with a reception to follow. In honor of her specialty for wearing elegant clothing featuring bright hues, rather than the usual funereal somber, the family has invited guests to choose brightly-colored clothing.

Day Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.

Online condolences may be made to www.DayFuneralServices.com.