Donna Mae Cook

Aumsville- Donna Mae Hodges Cook was born on September 14, 1932 in Goose Lake, Iowa to David Melville (Mike) Hodges and Edna B. Childers.  At the age of 15 she married Arnold B. Cook in Cresco, Iowa on September 30, 1947.  They were married almost 61 years when he passed in 2008.  To this union, 6 children were born.  They farmed in Iowa for almost 4 years before moving to Phoenix, Arizona in 1951.  They would move again in 1966 to the present-day location in Aumsville, Oregon where they would live out the rest of their years. While in Phoenix most of the time she was a homemaker with the exception of working at the county hospital as a nurse’s aide for a couple of years.  In Oregon she would work in the fields and at the cannery. She worked as a cook for the South Salem Nursing Home for a few years before becoming a cook for the Salem-Keizer School District where see would work until retirement due to the loss of her vision. In her spare time, Donna loved to play BINGO, bunco and to crochet.  She was also very active and enjoyed playing volleyball and bowling.   Family was by far the most import thing to her.  Distance never stopped her from spending time, as she was willing to travel in order to see those she was close with.  Often times this meant traveling great distances and often times taking advantage of unique seeing landmarks along the way. On May 6, 2020 Donna passed away in Salem, Oregon at the age of 87.  She was preceded in death by her loving husband, Arnold; Parents David and Edna; Sisters, Darlene McClure and Clarice Joy Hodges; Sons, Richard Cook and Ronald Cook; Daughter, Baby Girl Cook, and a Grand Daughter, Michelle Cook.  She is survived by two daughters, Deloris Dittman and Dorothy Koehler; Son, Robert Cook; Siblings, William Hodges, Jackie Coleman and Melvina Coalbank; 6 granddaughters, 2 grandsons, 8 great grandsons, 1 great-granddaughter, and 2 great-great granddaughters and one on the way. A celebration of life will be held at an undetermined date in the future.  Please check back.  A private internment will take place at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland, Oregon, where she will join her husband Arnold.