April 1, 1929 – Friday, February 16, 2018

Service Information
St. Michael Catholic Church, St. Michael, MN
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
11:00 AM

Visitation Information
St. Michael Catholic Church, St. Michael, MN
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
10 – 11 AM, 9:30 Rosary

Donna Marie Proehl, age 88, passed peacefully with family at her bedside, on February 16, 2018, at Lakeview Ranch, Dassel, MN, a beautiful home for those living with Alzheimer’s and dementia. She was an only child born to Arthur and Susan Proehl, in Hennepin County, on April 1, 1929.

Donna grew up on the family farm on Bass Lake. She attended a one-room school house in grades 1-8. Her favorite subject was math. Doing mental math calculations was her strength, and she was very talented with numbers and dates.

She attended Robbinsdale High School and graduated in 1947. Donna enjoyed helping on the family farm. She shucked corn, loaded hay, milked cows, fed the pigs and worked in the garden. She especially loved sledding on the hills in the wintertime and fishing for sunfish with her dad from the shores of Bass Lake in the summer months. She lived without electricity until they moved off the farm to Minneapolis.

Donna began working for the Dayton Company in downtown Minneapolis after she graduated from high school and was honored for her 45 years of employment with Dayton’s. She cared for her parents in their North Minneapolis home until their death. She enjoyed sewing, gardening and growing her own vegetables. She loved playing cards, especially “500.” She felt the most influential person in her life was her Grandmother, Anna Theis. Two lessons she wanted to pass on to others was to be kind to everyone and to be honest always.

During her lifetime, Donna was a member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Plymouth, Ascension in Minneapolis, St. Raphael’s in Crystal, and St. Michael Catholic Church in St. Michael.

Donna is survived by family caregivers Robert and Jeanne Van Drasek, Albertville, and Jim and Barb Van Drasek, Stillwater, and many relatives and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents.

Special thanks to the wonderful and compassionate caregivers at Lakeview Ranch who lovingly and respectfully cared for Donna.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Wednesday, February 21, 2018 at 11:00 AM, with visitation one hour prior and a Rosary recited at 9:30 AM, at St. Michael Catholic Church, 11300 Frankfort Pkwy NE, St. Michael, MN. Interment at Gethsemane Cemetery in New Hope, MN.

Memorials preferred to Lakeview Ranch, 69531 213th St. Darwin, MN 55324.

Serving the family is The Peterson Chapel St. Michael-Albertville Funeral Home. 763-497-5362. www.thepetersonchapel.com