Donna Jo Reed Staehlin
Nov. 23, 1935-Feb. 1, 2013
We are saddened by the loss of our dear friend Donna Staehlin.
Donna passed away peacefully with her daughter and son-in-law by her side in St. Helena Hospital’s ICU.
Donna had been diagnosed with a rare form of vasculitis called Churg-Strauss and passed away six short months later.
Donna was born at the Holy Cross Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, to Linda Jo Egerer and Cecil Brady “C.B.” Reed.
Most of her childhood was spent in Fountain Lake, Minnesota, where she attended parochial school and then going on to attended Albert Lea High School graduating in 1953.
Donna went on to earn a bachelor of science degree in physical education with a minor in economics at her father’s alma mater, the University of Colorado, in 1957.
While in Boulder her family moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where she went on to earn a master's degree in education at the Texas Christian University in 1960.
After graduation, she took a short lived teaching job in New York, which she called “the time of which we don’t speak.”
Taking a teaching position in Arizona, she made many friends and found she was made for the desert.
While in Arizona, she met and married Rogers Munro Staehlin Jr. in 1964. In 1965 they moved to the San Francisco Bay Area where Donna continued her career in education, teaching in the San Mateo Union High School District for more than 30 years.
She and Rogers divorced in 1983 after 18 years of marriage, however they maintained a deep friendship and parenting partnership throughout their lives.
Retiring at the age of 55, she moved to the Mendocino Coast in 1992. She lived in the cool North Coast for 14 years until she moved to Cobb Mountain in 2006, where she loved the warmer weather.
In the last chapter of her life, she became an integral part of the Cobb community, and enjoyed having her daughter as a next-door neighbor.
Donna had grown up in a family who loved to laugh and debate politics around the dinner table. She had a quiet, reflective, witty personality. She wasn’t afraid to stand her ground and speak her mind. Her tight inner circle of friends made her laugh and gave her a true sense of belonging.
She lived a practical, low frills, classic collegiate lifestyle. She enjoyed sports and had especially enjoyed skiing, playing tennis and softball. She continued to be an avid golfer her whole life and played three to four times a week.
Technology never scared her and she was known to be the techie among her friends. She embraced the Internet and enjoyed playing video games. Family and friends were her highest priority.
Donna was predeceased by her sisters, Diane Jean Thompson and Wanda Reed Catis, as well as her parents.
She is survived by her brother, John Reed Sr.; her daughter, Kimberlee Reed Ferguson; and two granddaughters, Alyssa Munro Ferguson and Madeline Reed Ferguson.
A memorial will be held in her honor at Moore Family Winery at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23.
She had made prearrangements through Neptune Society and will be scattered at sea north of the Golden Gate.
