Donna Mae Williams' Obituary
Donna Mae Broeske, Snyder, Williams was born August 1, 1921 and lived to be 104 years, 10 1/2 months. She died peacefully at Lofland Park Rehabilitation facility in Seaford, Delaware where she had been recovering after a 10 day stay at Bayhealth Hospital for pneumonia and congestive heart failure.
Donna was the oldest of five children of Florance and Paul Broesky. She had four siblings, Ardith, Darlene, Joan and Dale Broeske. She is survived by three children, Dennis La Verne Snyder and Kristine Lin Snyder and step-daughter Marilyn Williams Petty.
Donna attended nursing school in 1941, and she married Harold Ivan Snyder in 1942, moving to Barnesville, and then to New Philadelphia, Ohio. She loved music and while in New Philadelphia she played violin in the New Philadelphia Philharmonic. She had Dennis La Verne Snyder, October 1, 1946 at 8:55 a.m. and Kristine Lin Snyder, December 31, 1948, 5:30 a.m. Harold and Donna divorced in 1958. She and the children moved to Columbus, Ohio where she pursued her Master’s degree at Ohio State University, in Speech and Hearing Pathology graduating Suma Cum Lade, in 1965. She worked in Upper Arlington schools in Columbus, Ohio and met her late husband Don Maurice Williams at a Speech and Hearing conference in Mount Vernon, Ohio. They married in September, 1968. Donna was a born again Christian and was very active in her church teaching Sunday school and participating in Bible Studies.
Donna was very athletic and loved to run, hike, bike and play tennis, but she also loved to travel. She and Don made many trips across country to visit friends and tour the country. Any chance she had, she loved to go for a car ride and count the white cars.
She was a natural food enthusiast, and after moving with Don to Bellville, Ohio in 1969, they purchased a small farm on Steele Road and raised the majority of their own food: sheep, chickens, eggs and a large garden every year.
She and Don then built a house and moved to Bellefontaine in 1990 on land purchased from Rich and Marilyn Petty. In June, 2006, they installed a trailer home adjacent to Rick and Marilyn’s house on top of the hill where she lived until the Fall of 2012 when she moved to the Country Club Retirement home in New Philadelphia, Ohio. When Covid hit in 2020, Kristine had Donna move in with her and Jim in Lewes, Delaware, where she lived until May 5, 2026, when she moved to The Lodge Retirement home in Lewes. She lived there for eight days before going to Bayhealth hospital with pneumonia and congestive heart failure. She was transferred to Lofland Park Rehabilitation facility on Friday, May 22, 2026 where she continued her recovery and received physical therapy. She was doing well until June 8, when she took a turn for the worse. She died Tuesday, June 16, 2026 at 6:30 a.m. (6/16/26, 6:30 a.m.)
A graveside memorial service will be held at Belleville Cemetery, in Bellville, Ohio, July 4, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. All are welcome to attend.
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