Donna Balaguer

Born December 17, 1953, in Jacksonville, Florida, to George "Whit" and Lucile Cave, Donna was the best friend and built-in baby doll to her sister, Gladney Cherry, and the two were inseparable from the day Donna arrived.

Donna graduated from Wolfson High School and followed her Nana, Marie Cave, to The Florida State University. During summers home from school, she worked at Furchgott's, where she met her husband, John Balaguer(div.2010). Suddenly, the girl who had only ever known Tallahassee and Jacksonville found herself moving around the country in support of his career. Donna had a saying for that: "You don't need an annual spring cleaning — just move."

Donna raised three wonderful daughters with a deep commitment to faith, family, and hospitality. Their friends remember Momma B or Mrs. B as their taxi service, event coordinator, and ever-present volunteer, chaperoning trips and sewing costumes and marching band props. Her house, she liked to joke, "was the smallest," but it’s where all the kids wanted to hang out.

After the girls left for college. She moved to Tampa and built a beautiful life there. She had a gift for design and renovated her home into something beautifully her own. If she wasn’t on Bayshore Boulevard — on foot, on a bike, or, well into her sixties, on rollerblades, she would likely be in her garden, having inherited her Nana's green thumb.

But of all the places in the world, the beach was Donna's favorite. Every year, she and her sister Gladney planned an annual beach vacation together, so their children could grow up as close as sisters and cousins should be. Donna passed away the day before this year's trip was set to begin. It was her wish that the family go on without her, to St. Augustine Beach. It’s no surprise that the annual beach trip has grown to include not just family, but close friends and bonus grandchildren as well.

Donna built a respected career in banking as a financial planner specializing in trusts and retirement, retiring just after her 70th birthday. But she always said her greatest job was being a grandmother. She adored her three grandchildren, deciding she wasn't old enough to be called Grandma, became forever "Mimsie." Mimsie was a magnet for bonus grandchildren, too, and loved them all just as deeply. Though a full-time Florida resident, she never missed an important moment, and she wanted every grandchild to know what she told her own daughters: "Family is the ones God gave you — love them."

Mimsie never missed an adventure: snorkeling in the Caribbean, skiing, riding the world's tallest roller coaster, climbing ruins in Italy and Spain, cheering at FSU football games (and UF for Kimmie), running whatever race was on the schedule, and biking through Savannah and Dublin. Her advice was always the same: "Take the trip — it's just money, right?"

Donna's life lessons live on with all who knew her — including her unwavering insistence on "good grammar and proper English." She never let anyone speak or write incorrectly, and she is very likely proofreading this obituary from heaven right now. We will miss her gentle corrections — "It is Kimberly and I, not me and Kimmie" — more than she ever knew.

Above all else, Donna's life was rooted in her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. After her diagnosis, she became the calm, steady center of her family, reminding her daughters that "the Lord does not give us more than we can handle, and in the end, I will be with Him." Her prayer remained the same to the end: "Not my will, Lord, but Yours." While her earthly life has ended, her family finds comfort knowing Donna is resting in the arms of Jesus, her body fully restored and running the streets of heaven.

Donna was preceded in death by her parents, George "Whit" and Lucile Cave, and her grandmother, Marie Gladney Cave. She is survived by her daughters, Melissa Balaguer, Jennifer (George) Parvin, and Kimberly Balaguer; her sister, Gladney Cherry (Carson); her grandchildren, Colton Balaguer, Gardner Leigh Parvin, and Whit Parvin; her bonus grandchildren; and her nieces and nephews, Danny, Johnny (Jamie), Lee (Julie), Marcy, and Matt (Jamie).

A celebration of Donna's life will be held on July 17, 2026, at St. Paul's Anglican in Summerville, South Carolina. The family will receive friends beginning at 3:00 p.m. in Ambler Hall, with the funeral service to follow at 4:00 p.m. A private graveside service will be held at Oaklawn Cemetery in Jacksonville, Florida.

The family wishes to thank the MUSC ALS Clinic, Agape Hospice, and Interim Health for their gracious care, their support of the family, and for honoring Donna's wish to remain comfortable at home. The girls also thank Donna for the detailed plans and instructions she left for them.

Arrangements by CAROLINA MEMORIAL FUNERAL HOME, 7113 Rivers Ave. North Charleston, SC 29406.