Donna Rose

Rose, Donna of Beavercreek, dear friend, loving sister and aunt, and cherished companion, peacefully passed into the spirit realm of the sacred, divine, consciousness, Friday January 22, 2021. She was born on April 12, 1949 to Lewis T. and Lillian L. Peterson (Reichbauer). Donna is survived by her brother, Bruce L. Peterson (Tara Estabrook); sister, Tina L. Peterson; nieces, Lillian J. Peterson Naghski (Jon Naghski) and Mariah Jones-Peterson; grand-niece, Ayla Hayes Rose, close friends Maggie Reck, Cheryl Nigg, Caryl Thomas, and Larry Steinke, as well as a host of other family members and friends.

Donna graduated from Beavercreek High School in 1967 and attended the University of Southern Mississippi, BA, class of 1971. She and her husband at the time moved to Ocean City, New Jersey, where she began teaching in Special Education.

Always a lover of adventure and exploration, Donna was drawn to the beauty and majesty of the Southwest. After leaving the East Coast, Albuquerque became her home for the next three decades. She dedicated her professional career to working with kids receiving special education and mental health services, and earned her Masters in Education from the College of Santa Fe. Over the years Donna created play based therapy programs, taught in the classroom, trained other teachers, and had her hand in developing stronger programs for the students most in need.

Donna fell in love easily. Whether it be with a piece of art, a stranger on a train, or a particularly gnarly trail through the mountains, Donna found intrigue in all that the world and the people in it had to offer. Over her thirty years in New Mexico, she married into a large and welcoming Mexican-American family, and later partnered with a loving and sturdy woman and her horses up in the mountains. She danced and cooked and created art and ritual with a collection of friends who became family.

Throughout that time, Donna made trips back and forth to Ohio to help care for her father and reconnect with her Midwest roots (read: eat pie and corn on the cob and join in on backyard parties hosted by her short German family and by lifelong friends celebrating the Solstice). In 2012 Donna retired and moved back to the Miami Valley permanently, to, along with her sister, aid in the end of life care for her mom. During this time she was also living with cancer. Alongside her exceptional medical team at Kettering Medical Center and with support from the Noble Circle community, Donna valiantly sought treatments to extend and expand her life.

Donna approached dying the same way she approached living, with curiosity and intentional acts of ceremony and care for others. She was committed to personal growth and spiritual expansion and used the last several years of her life to reconnect with old friends, make art, and meditate on approaching life's less favorable offerings with patience and ease.

With deep gratitude the family wishes to thank Donna's hospice teams, both in-home, and in-patient at Hospice of Dayton for the exceptional and tender care provided. No services will be held at this time, but we look forward to hosting a celebration in honor of Donna's life when circumstances allow. In loving memory of Donna, contributions may be made to the following organizations: Southwest Indian Foundation: www.southwestindian.com; The Noble Circle Project: www.noblecircle.org; The Dayton Foodbank: www.thefoodbankdayton.org; WYSO Public Radio: www.wyso.org; Hospice of Dayton: www.hospiceofdayton.org/donations/, or NDI New Mexico, (motivational dance and healthy life-style programs for kids in NM): www.ndi-nm.org.

To share a memory of Donna or leave a special message for her family, please visit the guestbook below.