Dona Rae Marquardt

The family and friends of Dona Rae Reeves-Marquardt née Batty (age 94) mourn her passing on Saturday, November 7, 2026, in Kerrville, Texas, where she had been hospitalized for a short time. Dr. Reeves-Marquardt, emerita professor of German at Texas State University, had been born March 9, 1932, the youngest of five children born to Claude Albert Batty and Alma née Deines in Kansas City, Missouri. She was an amazing woman and is greatly missed by her many, many friends and admirers.

Dona earned a Ph.D. in Germanic Languages and Literature from the University of Texas at Austin with post-graduate work at the University of California-Berkeley and the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany where she was a Fulbright Scholar.

She taught German language and literature for decades at Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University) in San Marcos where she served as chair of the department. She led numerous student groups on tours to Germany to share firsthand her passion for the people and language that she loved.

Dona was a prolific researcher publishing dozens of articles on the language, history, and culture of Germans in Texas and the Germans from Russia and translating major works in that area including Peter Sinner’s Germans in the Land of the Volga and Gottlieb Beratz’ The German Colonies on the Lower Volga with LaVern Rippley and Leona Pfeifer. She co-authored German Migration to the Russian Volga (1764-1767): Origins and Destinations with Dr. Brent Mai and served as editor of German Culture in Texas; Retrospect and Retrieval: The German Element in Review, and Texas Country: The Changing Rural Scene.

She was co-founder of the German-Texan Heritage Society. She served for years on the Board of Directors of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia and was recognized by AHSGR in 2019 for her Distinguished Service. She was also active with the Germans from Russia Heritage Society and along with her late husband Lew Marquardt was a scriptwriter for Prairie Public Television’s award-winning documentaries “A Soulful Sound: Music of the Germans from Russia” (2005), “It’s All Earth and Sky” (2010), "At Home in Russia, At Home on the Prairie" (2012), and "We (Never) Don't Forget: Germans from Russia in South America" (2015).

Dona married Austin contractor Edward Reeves on March 29, 1958. He passed away on October 20, 1983. She remarried on February 1, 1985, to Dr. Lewis R. Marquardt. He passed away on May 31, 2020. She was a devoted step-mother and very proud of them all, being especially close with the youngest two, Steve and Greg.

Dona and Lew shared countless hours and numerous trips researching their ancestries in North America and Europe, ancestries which turned out to be conjoined when they got back into the colonial New England period. For several years after retirement, they could be found in Santa Fe where they enjoyed conversing with local Native American artisans and collecting pieces they found meaningful.

In addition to her parents and both husbands, Dona is predeceased by her siblings: Constance (Tigerman), Claude, Marcella (Dawson Tobin), and Jack.

Dona is survived by her beloved step-children and their families: Kathryn (Robert) Weil of Gilbert, Arizona; Mark (Nanette) Marquardt of Ionia, Michigan; David (Anne) Marquardt, Mandan, N.D.; Steven (Misty) Marquardt of Austin, Texas; and Gregory (Stefanie) Marquardt of Kerrville, Texas; and several nieces and nephews including Sharon (James Nolan) Durrell of Lawrence, Kansas.

Visitation will be held at Cook-Walden/Forest Oaks Funeral H, 6300 West William Cannon Drive, Austin, TX 78749 on November 20, 2026, from 9:00 am to 10:00 am.

A Graveside Service will be held at Cook-Walden/Forest Oaks Memorial Park at 10:00 am where she will be buried alongside her first husband, Edward. A reception immediately following at Cook-Walden/Forest Oaks Funeral Home.