Donna Lee Metz

Donna Lee Krauspe was born on September 27, 1936, and died on September 23, 2025. She was born in Portland, Oregon to Doris and Carl Krauspe and lived her early years in Wishram, Washington. Her father was the yardmaster in this small railroad town on the Columbia River near Celilo Falls, a sacred Native American fishing and trading center.

At age eleven, Donna moved with her family to Portland where she attended Duniway Elementary School and Cleveland High School. She was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi Sorority at the University of Oregon. Before completing her degree in accounting, she met her future husband, a JC Penney employee, while a customer in the curtain department. Bob was in the habit of offering free installation to college coeds.

Donna married Robert Grant Metz (Bob) on November 8, 1958 at Moreland Presbyterian Church in Portland and they moved into a small house in Eugene. Donna’s address for the next 32 years would be dictated by the JC Penney Company. Each move was embraced with enthusiasm by Donna as a new adventure. She made many new friends with every move and enjoyed exploring everything that each new location had to offer, encouraging her children to do the same.

William Carl was born in Eugene on Christmas Eve, 1959, on his father’s birthday. Donna always made sure Bob and Bill each had his own birthday cake. The family moved to Hayward, California in 1960. Son Steven Blair was born in 1963 and daughter Heidi Carlene completed the family when she arrived in 1968.

In 1970, the next move took them to Selma, California, the Raisin Capital of the World, where Bob managed his first JC Penney store. Promotion to a larger store back in the Bay Area in 1974 allowed them to kick out the problem renters and move back into the Hayward house. In 1978 the family trailer-camped their way to the next store in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Subsequent moves would take the family to Pekin, Illinois and Bourbonnais, Illinois.

Donna was president of the Fuchsia Society, a Cub Scout den mother, and an accomplished knitter and quilter. She enjoyed spinning and weaving. She was an active member of several Presbyterian churches in California and multiple Lutheran churches after moving to the midwest. She remained a steadfast Lutheran after moving back to Portland and was a member of St. James Lutheran Church at the time of her death. She was grateful for regular visits from Pastor Knapp and members of the Visitation Ministry.

In retirement, she traveled with Bob throughout the United States in a motorhome with a Golden Retriever. They also traveled to Europe and China.

For Donna, family was everything. Throughout her life, Donna took care of her husband, her children, her grandchildren and her mother. She was a source of wisdom, comfort, and sage advice for her family. She had a wicked sense of humor.

Donna was predeceased by her husband, Robert, who died in 2022 and grandson, Cameron, who died in 2011. She is survived by her son, William (Lori) of Portland, daughter Heidi Roe (Paul) also of Portland, and son, Steven (Molly) of Newcastle, Washington. She leaves seven grandchildren: Karl (Kirstie), Camille, Jordan (Chris), Persephone, Matthew, Annika, and Charlotte. Gifts in Donna’s memory may be made to St. James Lutheran Church or Mt. Hood Kiwanis Camp.