Dona Kirkpatrick Pavloff

Dona Kirkpatrick Pavloff, of Hilton Head Island, SC, passed away peacefully on December 10, 2025, at the age of 92. Dona was born October 26, 1933, in Pittsburgh, PA, to Donald and Helen Kirkpatrick, and grew up in Edgewood, PA. She attended Ohio Wesleyan University, where she was a proud member of Chi Omega sorority, before transferring to Indiana University of Pennsylvania to earn her teaching degree. On New Year’s Eve 1955, she met the love of her life, George Pavloff, and they were married on October 6, 1956.

Dona taught 2nd grade for two years in Pittsburgh before she and George moved to Hagerstown, MD, where she taught 4th grade for two years, before retiring to devote herself to her beloved family. George’s career with IBM kept them on the move. After Hagerstown, they lived in Baltimore; Armonk, NY; Detroit; Wilton, CT; Atlanta; Los Angeles; then Atlanta again, before retiring to Hilton Head in 1998.

Everywhere she went, Dona made cherished, lifelong friends. She volunteered for church, school, scouting, and sports at Northside Youth Organization. She also made time for golf (1 hole in one!), tennis and bowling, bridge, and more recently, canasta, dominoes, and trivia games. Baseball season was her favorite time of the year, and she rarely missed a chance to cheer on the Atlanta Braves. She was an avid reader, especially of mysteries, enjoyed doing jigsaw and crossword puzzles, and loved to travel, especially to Europe.

Most of all, Dona cherished spending time with family and friends, and her greatest accomplishment and legacy was being a devoted and loving wife to George, mother to their four children, and grandmother to eight grandchildren. Like many of her generation, Dona was very patriotic and had a deep love for her country. She loved to tell her children and grandchildren stories of what it was like growing up during World War II, and the many sacrifices they all made to support the war effort. Dona loved God, her family and friends, her country, and always realized how fortunate her life had been.

Dona was preceded in death by her parents and her beloved husband George, who died in 2016 after nearly 60 years of marriage. Dona is survived by her four children: Anne Firsching (Ray), Ellen McDonald (Mike), Bobby Pavloff (Lisa), and Tom Pavloff (Susan), and eight grandchildren.

A private graveside service will be held at Arlington Memorial Park in Atlanta in December, with a memorial service being planned for Hilton Head in the new year. In lieu of flowers, gifts can be made in Dona’s honor to charities that support breast cancer research.