Donna Mack

Donna Lee Mack, who spent her life spreading joy, entered into eternal joy on August 29, 2018.

She was born on February 13, 1937, in Omaha, Nebraska, the second of three children of Lawrence Welk and Fern (Renner) Welk. In her younger years, she lived for relatively brief intervals in Pittsburgh, Dallas and Denver before settling in the greater Chicago area, where she attended grade school. As a teenager, she moved to Brentwood, California, and attended nearby St. Monica High School.

She started her post-secondary education at College of the Holy Names (now Holy Names University), in Oakland, California, before transferring to Marquette University for her second and third collegiate years. She finished her undergraduate education in Los Angeles at Mount Saint Mary’s University, from which she received her bachelor’s degree and teaching certificate.

On September 12, 1960, she married her high school sweetheart and soulmate, James (Jim) Mack. They spent the first two years of their married life in St. Louis, Missouri, while Jim finished medical school, after which they moved to southern California. They would spend most of the next 16 years in various communities in the greater Los Angeles area (except for several months in Washington, DC, and 2 years in Cincinnati, Ohio, both under the auspices of the Public Health Service). In 1978, she moved, with her family, to Boise, Idaho.

In December of 1981, her world was rocked by the sudden and unexpected death of her husband, Jim. Through a sense of determination and her strong, exemplary Catholic faith, she forged ahead, seeing her youngest two children through grade school and high school, building a new home, obtaining a real estate license, and somehow, through it all, turning herself outward to the needs of her friends. She stayed in the Boise area until 2002, when she moved to Bozeman.

It’s been said that her first word was “kitty”, and indeed she had a lifelong love of furry creatures of various sizes and shapes. She was a skilled equestrian and a loving, doting, surrogate “mom” to various horses, dogs and cats through the years. In the animal world, becoming one of her pets was tantamount to winning Powerball. She also appreciated that portion of the animal world that wasn’t contained under her roof or in her stable; she logged countless hours driving down backroads, typically with a friend, hoping to catch a glimpse of a deer, elk, fox, moose or bear. She reveled in the beauty of the mountains that surrounded her home.

She had a quick and infectious sense of humor. She was a master of ridiculous exaggeration and adept at self-deprecating zingers. Family and friends would eagerly await her weekly letters, which practically caused the envelopes to glow as they delivered their sprinkles of sunshine.

She will be best remembered, however, for her genuine, deep love of humanity. Family, friends, and even random strangers would frequently find themselves the recipients of warm compliments, hugs or plates of fresh cookies. She understood the value of community and strengthened it wherever she went.

It’s difficult to do justice to her life in a few short paragraphs, and perhaps it can best be said that her story is written in the lives and hearts of those who knew her. The world is a better place because she walked in it.

She was welcomed into eternity by her husband, Jim, her daughter, Christine, and her parents, Lawrence and Fern. She is survived by her sister, Shirley Fredricks, her brother, Lawrence (Larry) Welk II, her sons, David and James Mack, her son-in-law, Mark Oliver, her five grandchildren and numerous nieces, nephews and in-laws. A rosary will be held on Tuesday, September 11, 2018, at 7:00 PM at Dahl’s Funeral Chapel in Bozeman, and the funeral Mass will be on Wednesday, September 12, 2018, at noon, at St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Belgrade, with a reception to follow.