Donna Mae Hobden

Donna was born in rural Sidney, IL on October 19, 1938 to Melvin Ray and Ruth (Leerkamp) Chesnut on their farm.

Donna married Charles Hobden on July of 1959. Two children were born from that union: Philip Wayne Hobden (Tina) of San Jose, CA and Beth Ann Christensen (Keith) of Colorado Springs, CO and one ‘adopted’ son Joshua Yballa of Fort Morgan, CO.

Donna had six grandchildren: Fath Marie Christensen of CO, Daria (Christensen) (Nathaniel) Pressley of VA, Anya (Christensen) (Caleb) Darnell of TX, Nathanial Hobden of CA and two step-grandsons: Seth Christensen (Sara) of CA and Michael Snell (Amanda) of CA. Donna had two great-grandchildren: Annabella Christensen and Drake Christensen. Donna left many nieces and nephews as well.

Donna is survived by her sisters, Janet Hubbard (Ridge Farm, IL), Sandy (Terry) Schumacher (Sachse, TX) and sister-in-law Lois Chesnut (Ridge Farm, IL).

Donna is preceded in death by her parents Ray and Ruth Chesnut (Ridge Farm, IL); her former husband Charles Hobden (Colorado Springs, CO); an older brother, Jimmy Dean; a younger brother, Morris Chesnut (Ridge Farm, IL); and a brother-in-law Cy Hubbard (Ridge Farm, IL).

A Celebration of Life will be held at 11am on Saturday, August 29, 2026 at the Wayne & Ila Blakeney Community Building located at Ward Park, 106 Pilot St, Ridge Farm, IL.

Memories of Donna

Donna was the 2nd of five children: Jimmy Dean (deceased shortly after birth), Donna, Morris Chesnut, Janet Hubbard, Sandy Schumacher. Donna grew up on the farm, became a cheerleader in high school, learned to play piano and the clarinet in the marching band, with sewing projects for 4H competitions, doing the things the oldest sister does in a farm family to help care for her younger siblings.

Donna, born and raised on the farm in Illinois, finished high school as the first graduate of the newly consolidated Jamaica High School and left home to attend Milwaukee Bible College, achieving a dream she had to learn more about the Word of God, the Grace message and… to live away from the farm. There she met her husband, Charles Hobden. Having a shared interest in missions, they sang duets and in quartets and travelling throughout the Midwest with their college choir, visiting churches that were apart of Milwaukee Bible Institute. Donna married Charles in 1959 at the Pleasant Hill Methodist Church near Sidney, IL – as Mom would say, “out in the country”.

Donna, having learned to sew from her Mom, loved to sew for her family and missionaries, sat on many Womens Missionary Society boards in her church, sang alto in duets, quartets and the choir at San Jose Evangelical Free Church (now, Hillside Church). She taught numerous children Sunday School classes in Colorado and California, held many years of summer VBS at her home in San Jose, worked in the church kitchen, providing many classic Illinois (Midwest) dishes where many recipes were passed down from her Mom. She shared her sewing skills with many at church, teaching them to sew as she learned from her mom and through 4H. She made her home a safe refuge for friends and neighborhood kids needing a place to stay. Donna hosted many missionaries home on furlough at their home in San Jose, supporting them in prayer and encouraging letters.

Donna became a Teachers Aid in San Jose, first at Stipe Elementary and then at Davis Junior High, becoming a favorite to the teachers she worked for, developing life-long friendships, doing it to help the family and put one of her kids through Valley Christian Jr High School.

Donna enjoyed the company of her two sisters, getting together whenever they could over the years in IL, IN, TX and CA, laughing and carrying on for hours, shopping at their favorite places, catching meals together, coming back to one of their homes exhausted and ready to do it again the next day!

Donna was known to be a staunch defender of her kids, active in their classrooms as a favorite room mother at Stipe Elementary (San Jose), advocating for her son with her husband to let him purchase his first car at 16. She made cheese biscuits and poured lemonade during the hot summer months for hers and the neighbor’s kids. She and Charles opened their home to many high school and college friends that needed a safe place to live as well as many visiting Marine’s up from Camp Pendleton home on leave with Josh for the weekend. She made many wonderful meals, especially Sunday dinners, sharing her home with many families from church.

Donna loved her grandkids, being a part of their lives from the moment they were born and through their school years. She was a big part of her first granddaughter’s life, Faith, picking her up from school, singing worship tunes in the car as they travelled. She cared for her step-grandson, Seth, for several years at her home. She so enjoyed the arrival of her adopted granddaughters, Daria and Anya in 2005 from the Ukraine. She couldn’t wait for her grandson Nathanial to be born, waiting in the hospital lounge, anxious to see him almost before his own parents! She made meals, sewed clothing and curtains for their rooms, sewed costumes for them to perform in the Hillside Church annual children’s productions. She loved to see Nathanial play baseball in Little League catching many of his games through age 13 and caught a couple of his cross country/track meets in high school before moving to Texas in 2019. She was at every musical performance, ballet event and church musical both to see her grandkids perform and sing in the adult choir.