Donna Mae Timberlake

Donna Mae Pettiford Timberlake was the fifth of 12 children born to the late Harold Luther and Rilla Alberta Venters Pettiford on July 26, 1922, in Marion, Indiana. After receiving her education in the public schools of Marion, Donna moved to Saginaw, Michigan where she married the late Donaldson Timberlake and worked as a nurse’s aide at Osteopathic Hospital in Saginaw until her retirement in 1986. As a youth and young adult, Donna enjoyed roller skating and loved working difficult jigsaw puzzles well into her senior years. She was a faithful member of the Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church in Saginaw and served as Sabbath School secretary for many years. Donna loved her family and each year on the third Sunday in August she returned to her hometown of Marion for the Pettiford-Weaver Reunion. On August 17, 2014, accompanied by her granddaughter, Kelly, Donna was able to attend what was to become her final family reunion. In September 2011, Donna moved to New Haven, Michigan where she lived with her granddaughter, Kelly Bryant, until May 2014 when it became necessary to relocate Donna to Autumn Woods Health Care Facility in Warren, Michigan where she resided until her death on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 10, 2015. Donna’s only child, Patricia Ann Bryant, preceded her in death on February 11, 2009. Three sisters, Mable Janette Pettiford Graham, Mildred Delores Pettiford Roberts, Mary Virginia Pettiford, and three brothers, Herbert Woodson Pettiford, Walter Harold Pettiford, and Edwin Elsworth Pettiford, also preceded Donna in death. She leaves to cherish her memory: seven grandchildren: Sidney Timberlake, Tanya (Ronnie) Bryant, Kim (Donald) Bryant, Wendy (Jessie) McDaniel, Barry (Estrella) Bryant, Kelly (Antie) Bryant, and Mark (Kim) Bryant; 20 great grandchildren; 10 great great grandchildren; five sisters: Dorothy Haynes, Detroit, MI, Alice Powell, Anaheim, CA, Barbara Bryant, Carmel, IN, Alma (Calvin) Lloyd, Carson, CA, and Carolyn Spears, Marion, IN; and a host of other relatives and friends. A butterfly lights beside us like a sunbeam. And for a moment its glory and beauty belong to our world. But then it flies on again, and though we wish it could have stayed, we feel so lucky to have seen it. Funeral service will take place at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 19, 2015 at Ephesus Seventh Day Adventist Church, 2115 Wadsworth Street. Pastor Steve Bramwell will officiate with interment in Forest Lawn Cemetery. Friends may call at the church on Tuesday from 9:00 a.m. until time of service.

Donna Mae Timberlake

July 26, 1922 - May 10, 2015