Donna J. Gilbertson

Donnabelle Jean Gilbertson, 92, passed away early Thursday, April 24, 2025, at Walnut Ridge Care Center in Clive, Iowa. Donna was born in Eagle Grove, Iowa, to Donald and Lillian (Stumpf) Paine, on August 8, 1932. She grew up on the family farm in Duncombe, near Webster City. After graduating from Webster City High School in 1949, she attended the University of Iowa where she obtained a degree as a radiology technician. She then moved to Des Moines where she worked in radiology and met her future husband and love of her life, John Erick Gilbertson. In 1952, they married and moved to Sioux Rapids where John established a dental practice, and they started their family. In 1959, they moved to Des Moines where they raised their family and enjoyed 65 years of marriage before John passed away in 2017.

Donna was active in PEO and the Des Moines Women’s Club, and after her children were off to college, she worked for many years as the office manager of her husband’s busy dental practice. To all who knew them, they were known simply as “Doc and Donna”. They were avid sports fans, especially professional tennis, and enjoyed trips to Wimbledon, the French Open, and the US Open, and rarely missed a grandchild’s recital, concert, or sporting event.

Left to cherish her memory are her three sons, Jon (Christine) Gilbertson of Clive, Jay (Melanie) Gilbertson of Inlet Beach, Florida, Jim Gilbertson (Leslie) of Ankeny, and her sister, Marguerite Staley (Garry) of Webster City. She was predeceased by her parents and by her beautiful daughter, Jean Ann (Gilbertson) Larson, in 2021. Donna was also blessed with 10 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, 3 step-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be held on Monday, April 28, 2025, from 5:00–7:00 PM at McLaren’s Resthaven Chapel in West Des Moines. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM Tuesday, April 29, 2025, at McLaren’s Chapel, with burial following at Resthaven Cemetery in West Des Moines.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Animal Rescue League of Iowa.