Dona Marie Lange

Dona Marie Lange, 87, of Maquoketa, Iowa, died on Thursday morning, April 12, 2012, at her home in Maquoketa, Iowa, due to cardiac complications. A celebration of Dona's life will be held at 11 A.M., Tuesday, April 17, 2012, from the First United Methodist Church in Maquoketa, Iowa. Visitation will be held prior to the service from 10 A.M. to 11 A.M., at the First United Methodist Church in Maquoketa. Burial will be in the Hickory Grove Cemetery, rural Monmouth, Iowa. The Carson Celebration of Life Center in Maquoketa is caring for the family. Dona Marie Wagoner was born on January 15, 1925 in Presho, South Dakota, to Earnest Lee and Ada May (Chamberlain) Wagoner. Her parents moved to Rapid City, South Dakota when she was three and she attended school in Rapid City through the third grade. Her family then moved to Maquoketa, Iowa. She had two older brothers, Tracy and Ello, and one younger brother, Dale. She graduated from Maquoketa High School in 1942. Dona worked as an operator with Northwestern Bell in Maquoketa until moving to Burlington with her mother and father in 1944 where she worked as a receptionist with the Iowa Soap Company. Her father trained horses and ...[more]

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epted a job offer in 1943 which was the reason for the move to Burlington. Dona and her mother returned to Maquoketa following her father's death in 1946. She married Vern Leroy Lange on September 21, 1946 in Davenport, Iowa. Their son, David was born in 1950, and their daughter, Nancy Erin, was born in 1957. Dona had worked as a senior advocate outreach worker for the Scenic Valley Area on Aging (the Maquoketa Senior Center) in Maquoketa for 18 years, retiring in 1997. Prior to that time she had worked as a clerk at Mann's apparel and later at Grahams and Bill Moler's Clothing Stores in Maquoketa. Dona was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Maquoketa. She was a devoted wife and mother. She enjoyed dancing, reading, cooking and baking. She especially enjoyed her nightly ritual of keeping up with her granddaughter and great-grandchildren via the internet. She was a very positive person who always looked at the positive in a situation or a person instead of thinking of the negative. She was a very kind and caring person who always was concerned about the needs of others and doing whatever she could to help. Dona is survived by a daughter, Nancy Erin Lange of Maquoketa, IA; a step-son, Terry Lange of FL; a granddaughter, Keisha (Wesley) Long of CA; 2 great-grandchildren, Makena and Bobby Long; a brother, Dale Wagoner of Peoria, IL; and a daughter-in-law, Angela Lange of Ottumwa, IA. She was preceded in death by her parents, a son, David, a daughter-in-law, Kris Lange, 2 brothers, Tracy and Ello, and her husband, Vern, on March 1, 2008. In lieu of other expressions of sympathy, a Dona Marie Lange memorial fund has been established. Online Condolences may be left at www.CarsonAndSon.com.