Donna M. Reifenrath

Donna M. Reifenrath, age 91 of Hartington, Nebraska died peacefully surrounded by her family on Friday, September 22, 2023 at South Lake Village in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Mass of Christian Burial will be on Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 10:30 a.m. at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Hartington with the Rev. Owen Korte officiating. Burial will be at St. Michael’s cemetery in Hartington.  Visitation will be on Wednesday, at church, from 5-8:00 p.m. with a vigil service at 7:00 p.m. Visitation will continue on Thursday one hour prior to services.  Arrangements are under the direction of the Wintz Funeral Home in Hartington.

Pallbearers are eight of Donna’s granddaughters: Alea Reifenrath, Amber Kramer, Megan Asselin, Melanie Leise, Katie Wintz, Carrie Brown, Katherine Reifenrath and Tessa Boesiger.

Donna Reifenrath was born on October 26, 1931 in Beaver Creek, Nebraska. As a young girl, her family moved to the family farm near St. James, Nebraska. She graduated from Mount Marty High School, Yankton, SD in 1949. Donna married Joe Reifenrath on April 11, 1950 at Sts. Philip and James Catholic Church, St. James, NE. Together they celebrated over 69 years of marriage and were blessed with nine children.

Donna was a member of the Holy Trinity Guild, the Catholic Daughters of America and the St. James Altar Society. While at St. James Parish, she also served as an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist.

At East Catholic Elementary School, Donna worked in the cafeteria and helped to supervise recess. Along with working at school, she was also the heart and soul of the family farm. While raising her nine active children, she loved gardening, picking wild berries for jelly and even running the windrower. Her least favorite thing to do was the ironing! Donna cherished her time with her grandchildren and lovingly crocheted a baby blanket for each one of them when they were born. She also loved hosting gatherings for her family and card club friends. One of her favorite things to do was to spend an evening at the local dance hall, dancing the night away with her husband, Joe. Donna loved to bake. She would provide her family with an endless supply of baked bread, sticky cinnamon rolls, cowboy cookies and apple pie. Her homemade bread was something that no one has ever been able to duplicate! She also made sure that each of her children had a special homemade birthday cake on their birthday, made especially for them! One of Donna’s many blessings to her family was teaching each of her children to pray. This was most evident in the prayers that the family prayed after supper every night. It was at this time that the bedtime prayers were also said, so as to make sure they were not forgotten.

Donna and Joe retired from the farm and moved to Hartington, NE in April, 1994.   In her retirement years, she enjoyed gathering with her friends for bowling League and neighborhood card club.  In August, 2017 Donna and Joe moved to an Assisted Living community in Lincoln, NE.  There she enjoyed her weekly bingo games.

Donna will be greatly missed by her family, Tom (Janette) Reifenrath of Eagle, Kathy (Tom) Roemer of Leavenworth, KS, John Reifenrath of Lincoln, Joe (Carol) Reifenrath of LaVista, Mary (Jeff) Leise of Hartington, Nancy (Jeff) Asselin of Lincoln, Don (Penny) Reifenrath of St. James, Mike (Sarah) Reifenrath of St. James, NE; son-in-law Ron (Jill) Griess of Yankton, SD; 27 grandchildren; 35 great grandchildren; sister Rosemary Wieseler; sister-in-law Anita Potts.

She was preceded in death by her parents Alois and Evelyn Potts; husband Joseph Reifenrath; brother Jim and wife Leona (Potts) Petersen; brother Bob Potts; infant brother John; brother-in-law Larry Wieseler; daughter Jean Marie Griess; daughter-in-law Jolene Reifenrath; and infant grandson Matthew Reifenrath.

Family time was something that Donna always looked forward to.  The memories that were made will always be treasured!

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Monsignor Werner Endowment fund.