Donna Marie Meyer

Donna Marie Meyer, a longtime resident of Chewelah, Washington, passed away unexpectedly at her home on March 13, 2023, at 88 years old. Donna was born in Chewelah on October 13, 1934, to Arthur and Maude (Thompson) Salvage.

Donna grew up in Chewelah, and she was quite the social butterfly in school. She loved music, voice and band, and was a cheerleader and May queen. In high school she would meet her sweetheart, Virgil Glenn Vannice. Following his graduation, he enlisted in the Army and went off to basic training while Donna finished high school. After Glenn returned from basic training and Donna graduated from high school, the two were joined in marriage, and they would later welcome two daughters, Laurie and Barbara.

During her life, Donna worked various jobs, but mostly loved helping with patients at the Medical Clinic in Garfield, Washington. She was an executive assistant while living in Oklahoma, and later was an office assistant for a Women's Clinic in Spokane. She diligently helped with the work on the farm where she and Glenn were raising the girls near Garfield, Washington. While their marriage would not last, Donna would eventually remarry, finding love with William "Bill" A. Thomas.

In retirement, Donna loved to work in her yard, caring for the lawn, trees and working in her flower garden. She loved color-coordinating flower pots and the flowers that she put in each one. She was a woman of great faith and prayer. She was committed to praying daily for her family, friends and other widows. Her close relationship with God gave her the strength she needed to endure life's difficulties, including the death of her husband Bill, in 1989 and the later passing of her third husband, Robert E. Meyer, in 2002.

Donna is preceded in death by her parents, Art and Maude Salvage, her five siblings, Betty, Cora, Don, Leora, and Leroy and husbands Bill Thomas and Robert Meyer. She is survived by daughters Laurie (Randy) Brown and Barbara (Mike) Ball; her granddaughters, Jessica and Kristen Ball, and Stephanie Brown Cox and her 5 great-grandchildren, Judah, Jovan, Carter, Dax, and Marley.

A gathering is being planned for Donna's friends and family in a few weeks.

Please visit the on-line memorial and sign the guestbook at http://www.danekasfuneralchapel.com. Danekas Funeral Chapel and Crematory is entrusted with Donna's care and cremation.