Private family services for Donna Conway, 91, Eureka, SD will be held at Fairview Cemetery, Herreid, SD. Donna died on Monday, October 17, 2022 at the Avera Eureka Health Care Center.

Donna Ramona Orth Conway was born November 28, 1930 to Emil T. and Katie Beck Orth at the home of her maternal grandparents, east of Mound City, SD. She grew up on her parents farm east of Herreid, SD where she attended Worms rural school and later completed her schooling at Herreid where she graduated from High School in 1949.

Soon after her High school graduation she became involved in County Government serving as Deputy County Auditor, and then another term as Deputy County Treasurer. In 1954 she made a change to State Government at Pierre, SD where she worked for the Department of Public Welfare. Later she accepted a position with the Secretary of State and then on to the Pierre Medical Clinic where she was employed until her marriage to Howard Conway on September 18, 1955.

After their marriage they went to live in Tioga, ND. Donna went to work for the Oil Field Service Company as a Secretary and Dispatcher. Tioga was a "boom" town; oil had been discovered and Tioga was also very cold and they decided to move to California. In California she found temporary work at a toy store in Sacramento; then at the Guild Winery, and then she accepted a permanent job at Rice Bros., Inc. (a ready mix concrete business) where she would do payroll and some dispatching. Everything seemed to be falling into place but she was still a South Dakota person who wanted to go "home".

In the fall of 1956 they were back in South Dakota living on her farm her grandfather Peter Orth had homesteaded when it was still Dakota Territory. Wolff Bros., Inc. at Eureka, SD were looking to hire a bookkeeper for their Grain and Produce business and Donna went to work for them for the next seven years.

Now it was time for Donna to become a full time farmer's wife which meant operating tractors and doing whatever needed doing.

In 1964 Michael Kent was born completing our family.

Donna would now serve as Clerk of the Worms School District until the District was dissolved. This was the same school she had attended as a child. Now she was also the first woman in Campbell County to serve on a School Board.

In 1959 Donna became a member of the Baptist Church at Herreid, SD. She was very busy with Church activities. She served as a Sunday School Teacher for many years; as well as teaching Bible School and Teen Bible Study. Also serving as Church Clerk, Church Treasurer, Church Reporter, and Sunday School Superintendent over the years. She was also a member of Women's Missionary Society and Church Choir.

Donna's love of music started early in her life when her Dad taught her to play the guitar and sing. It was singing "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" at the Herreid Baptist Church and "Come Sit by My Side Little Darling" (among others) at the Amateur contests at Herreid on Saturday nights. Among her souvenirs is the guitar pick she used. Her love of music grew with her marriage to Howard and their singing of duets at Church Services, funerals and other events. The singing with the Campbell County Community Choir meant a great deal to her.

In her spare time she wrote devotionals for "Moments With God". And in 1979 she became a Charter member of the Go-For-Ettes Extension Club and in 1981 she became County President of the Women's Extension Clubs; as well as serving on the County Extension Board. In 1984 she was elected Sec. – Treas. For District 6 and in 1985 she was appointed as State Project Leader for Citizenship and Community Outreach. She also served as the Key Person in Campbell County for the Legislative Alert Committee.

In 1985 Donna had to make time for something different in her life when they found she had colon cancer. After surgery and radiation treatments it was under control and life went on. In 1986 she was elected to the Board of Directors of the Eureka Community Hospital at Eureka, SD.

In 1992 Stan Hieb, Owner of Hieb Excavating and Trucking called Donna asking her to come to work for him as his bookkeeper. She went in for an interview and stayed on as an employee until he retired in 2000. For a time she did part-time book work for Obenauer Construction and Kappas Trucking.

Preceding her in death was her husband Howard in 2009; and her parents.

She is survived by her son, Mike Conway; granddaughter, Kayla (Conway) Czmowski (Randy) and 2 great grandchildren Treyvon & Tallie Czmowski.