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Donna Marie Willadsen, 83

| September 5, 2020 1:00 AM

Donna Marie Willadsen, 83, from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, passed away Aug. 30, 2020, at Kootenai Health. She was born in Coeur d’Alene on Oct. 16, 1936, to Lee Edwin Glasco and Evelyn Irene St. Claire.

Donna grew up in Coeur d’Alene, attending grade school and junior high on Seventh Street, and then continued next door at Coeur d'Alene High School where she graduated in 1954.

She spent her childhood days on a small acreage in the northern Coeur d'Alene area. In school, she enjoyed drama class and participated in some high school plays. Along with her brothers and sisters, she spent some happy learning time in a neighboring 4-H club. She attended the 4-H short course in Moscow, Idaho. In 4-H activities, the whole Glasco family attended a dairy cow judging contest and won all the top awards in the contest. She also spent some time babysitting early on, too.

She attended the Walnut Avenue Gospel Chapel with her friends. They also volunteered for evening sessions on top of the Coeur d'Alene City Hall in the Ground Observer Corp branch of the Air Force to watch for unidentified aircraft.

She was excited to see the one and only Bing Crosby out on the golf course in Hayden Lake while babysitting.

One day, she experienced a flat tire with her dad’s car. Stranded in north Coeur d'Alene, a couple of high school kids from Rathdrum, Idaho, stopped and changed her tire. The "Flat Tire Kid," as Donna called him, was invited to her older brother’s birthday party, which he attended.

The next week both youngsters ended up at a 4-H Builders Club meeting at Ross Point, Idaho. Donna, in attendance with her other 4-H club members, went into action when they found out a new president was going to be elected. The "Flat Tire Kid" was then surprised to find himself the new president of the 4-H club. That sparked a longtime relationship between Donna Glasco and Phil Willadsen.

Phil invited Donna to the Rathdrum High School prom, but wouldn't you know it, Donna had to be in the Coeur d’Alene High School play that night. Despite that, the relationship continued, and on June 29, 1955, the happy couple became man and wife at the First Baptist Church in Coeur d'Alene. Their honeymoon was a trip to Coulee Dam.

They settled on the Willadsen farm north of Rathdrum, owned by Phil's mother and brother. After Phil's brother went into the service, they lived there for several years. The family grew with Gwen, Gay and Valarie coming onboard. They then moved back to Coeur d'Alene, living in her parent’s neighborhood. In the next few years, Mitch came along, then Brad, then Lorena, making a family of eight.

She is survived by husband Phil, daughters Gwen Farley, Gay (David) Holmes, Val (Carl) Larsen, Lorena (Pat) Hanson, and sons Mitch (Cindy) Willadsen and Brad Willadsen, along with 13 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her brothers Bill (wife Pat) Glasco and Ed (wife Anita) Glasco. She is preceded in death by her parents Lee and Evelyn Glasco, sisters Dorothy (and her husband Milton) DeMerrit, Lois (and her husband Charles) Holecek and Margie Schaffer.

Memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8, at Yates Funeral Home in Hayden Lake, Idaho, followed by a graveside service at Memorial Gardens at 2 p.m. The public is invited to the services.

The family also extends a big thank you to the medical staff at Kootenai Health, North Idaho Home Health and Kootenai Family Clinic.