Our much loved mom, Donna Louise Hehr Grell, 91, went home to be with her Lord on Sunday, December 4, 2022, at her home in Ocoee, Florida. She passed away peacefully in her sleep just as she had hoped and prayed. Donna was born in Canton, Ohio on December 6, 1930 to the late John and Eliza Hehr. She was the youngest of seven children. She was baptized and raised in First Lutheran Church of Canton where she was active until her move to Orlando, Florida in 2000 to spend the remainder of her life with her children and grandchildren.
Donna was a 1948 graduate of Timken Vocational High School. Mom and Dad had gone to the same church throughout their lives but hadn’t met until after high school because George attended German Service with his mother and Donna attended English Service with her family! They were married at First Lutheran in 1950. Dan and Linda were born to this loving couple during the first few years of their marriage. Mom was active at all the schools that we kids attended… she was president of the PTA, worked with Scouts, president of Perry Band Boosters, and was a member of Canton Garden Club and Trirosis Women’s Club. She worked as a cashier at Fishers Foods, West Tusc store for more than 30 years where she made many friends with her fellow workers as well as customers. After George passed away in 1991, Donna remained in Canton maintaining her ties with friends and family while also traveling to Florida.
Upon her move to Florida in 2000, she became active in her new community at Palm Valley Mobile Home Park in Oviedo and Redeemer Lutheran Church in Winter Park. She was a strong, independent woman who made this big move courageously. She enjoyed playing bocce ball and Mahjong as well as helping with other events at the club house at Palm Valley. She loved spending time with her growing grandsons and hosted many family dinners and celebrations at her new home.
Mom suffered a stroke in 2011 that altered her life dramatically due to partial paralysis. It was a struggle for her and she missed her independence every day. We are grateful that beyond the physical disability, she was blessed to have her memory, speech, and sense of humor. She lived in assisted living the past ten years where she received the assistance needed for mobility and other activities of daily living. To the day she died, Mom insisted on looking her best. She had two large closets filled with clothes, got her hair done every week, and put on light makeup every day. Every time she wanted to go shopping, we told her she needed to give up something because there was no more room… that rarely happened and then there were the shoes. We loved that she loved looking good. Her fellow residents and friends always remarked about how nice she always looked.
Besides Dan of Orlando, Linn and her husband John, of Zellwood, Florida… Donna was blessed with three grandsons… Eric (Lindsey) Morris of Orlando, Tim (Hali) Morris of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Bryan (Dia) Morris of Kansas City, Missouri, as well as great-granddaughter, Alice Morris of Orlando. Donna is also survived by sister-in-law, Barb Hehr of Canton, Ohio and many nieces and nephews whom she loved dearly.
Donna was preceded in death by her husband of 41 years, George, and her six siblings… Mary (Chuck) Prysock, Mildred (Earl) Devis, Louis (Virginia) Hehr, Jean (Herman) Young, Doris (Don) Upperman, and Bill (Barb) Hehr.
Donna had five girlfriends from her childhood and high school days whom she loved like sisters… all these women passed before her with Mary being exactly one week before… Susie Polsinelli Biasella, Susie Paoletto Crum, Anna Gemmato, Mary Datko Ebner, and Alice Schill Richardson.
Although we are very sad that she is no longer physically with us, we feel her presence around us every day and we rejoice that she is now reunited with our Dad, the love of her life, and her dear friends and family. We can envision Mom and Dad dancing a polka and happy together for eternity. They were quite a couple on the dance floor.
We would like to thank the teams at Madison Senior Living of Ocoee and AdventHealth Hospice Care of Central Florida for their love and care of Donna.
There will be no services in Orlando. A Celebration of Life will be held in her hometown of Canton, Ohio in Spring/Summer.