Dolna Lee Brieske

Dolna Lee (Hires) Brieske, age 62, born September 17, 1959, died peacefully in her sleep June 28, 2022, after a 2-year battle with brain cancer. Dolna (or Dee as she was known to many of her friends) was preceded in death by her parents Kermit D. Hires and Margaret L. Hires, and her sister, Christine Gonzalez. Dolna is survived by her husband Craig Brieske, whom she married April 27, 1985, her niece, Rachael (Gonzalez) Parrish, great-niece, Raven Parrish and Robert Parrish. Dolna was a member of the Neelsville Presbyterian Church, Germantown, Maryland, where she actively participated on the Sesquicentennial Committee.

Dolna is a native of Norfolk, Virginia, where she was a member of the Talbot Park Baptist Church, at which she was in the handbell choir, regular choir and many other youth activities. Dolna graduated from Granby High School in 1977, where she was in the Martin Tri Hi Y organization. Dolna also graduated from the Data Processing Class of the Norfolk Technical Information Center in 1977. Dolna attended Old Dominion University in 1977 and 1978, and Montgomery College over several years.

Dolna began her federal career in Human Resources (HR) at the Norfolk Naval Base, and continued in that field after marrying Craig while employed by the then-Veterans Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture in Nashville, Tennessee. After Craig was transferred to Washington, D.C., Dolna continued in HR at the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health, where she was promoted to Administrative Officer, prior to her retirement in 2007. During her federal career Dolna became a life-long member of Federally Employed Women.

Over the years Dolna developed many craft and artistic talents starting out with cross-stitching and migrating to cake baking and decorating, providing the foundation for her own sole proprietorship as Unique Gifts and Dee-Signs. Somewhere along this journey Dolna developed a fondness for Flamingo’s, adapting a Flamingo carrying a purse as her logo for her business, and referring to herself as the “Flamingo Lady.” As she continued to develop her skills, Dolna became a Wilton Certified Cake Decorator, and participated in various judged events, where she won some recognition. However, being a cake decorator was not enough, as she also made various types of chocolate confections, often combined with her cakes.

As time went on Dolna developed her painting skills and became a One Stroke Certified Instructor in a technique called One Stroke acrylic painting. Not only dd Dolna make these paintings, she taught this method for one year at a local A.C. Moore craft store, because she loved painting, teaching and sharing her gift of painting. Dolna was twice selected by the Gallerie Myrtis of Washington, D.C. to display her acrylic canvas artworks in their emerging artists program, where several of her paintings were displayed at the Golden Flame Restaurant in the art district of Silver Spring, Maryland. At the end of this display the co-owner of the gallery purchased one of her paintings as a gift for his mother.

Beyond the canvas paintings Dolna used the same technique in paintings of dishware and glassware, along with various small items such as magnets and tile dominos, which she sold year-round as vacation souvenirs from a consignment shop in Ocean City Maryland.

Finally, the headline above is the epitaph by which Dolna wishes to be remembered.