Donna Mae (Davis) Schuster

Donna Mae (Davis) Schuster was gathered tenderly into the arms of her Savior on Tuesday evening, February 22, 2011, just as the sun went down. Donna was born on June 27, 1934 in Mondovi, Wisconsin, to Wilfred and Lois “Gwen” (Cripe) Davis.
As a young girl, she developed her passion for music by learning to play the guitar, ukulele, accordion, piano, banjo and organ. Donna and her two brothers, Bernard and Eldon, formed a trio in their teenage years and circulated to various county and church functions playing and singing the gospel songs she knew so well.
Donna graduated from Mondovi High School, Mondovi, Wisconsin, in 1952, and on December 27, 1956, she married her high school sweetheart, Jerome “Jerry” Schuster, in Mondovi. Donna and Jerry embarked on a lifetime of sharing the gospel when Jerry was ordained as a minister of the Church of the Brethren. Together they pastored churches in Kremlin, Montana, Rice Lake, Wisconsin, Quakertown, Pennsylvania, County Line, Pennsylvania, Worthington, Minnesota, Mountain Grove, Missouri, and finally, at the Greenwood Church of the Brethren, east of Mountain Grove.
Donna’s skill as a musician was renowned wherever she lived. She served as church pianist/organist and also led the praise and worship team at the New Life Family Worship Center in Mansfield, Missouri for four years.
On July 1, 1977, Donna received her Certification for the Practice of Nursing, from the state of Minnesota. She then began a lifetime of caring for the elderly in various nursing homes in Minnesota and Missouri. She was loved and respected by her colleagues, and those whose lives she ministered to with devoted care.
Donna and Jerry spent 58 years together, walking side by side, hand in hand.
She was preceded in death by her parents: Wilfred and Lois “Gwen” Davis; two brothers: Bernard Davis and Eldon Davis; and by a nephew: Stephen Davis.
She is survived by her husband of 54 years: Jerome “Jerry” Schuster (Mountain Grove); daughters: Yvonne Erwin (Springfield) and Roxanne Schuster (Mountain Grove); son: Mark Schuster (Michelle Blackwell Schuster) (Mansfield); seven grandchildren: Michael Erwin, Zachary Erwin, Logan (Amanda) Schuster, Lyndsy Schuster, Rylan Schuster, Isabella Schuster and Eden Schuster; two great-grandsons: Conner and Damien; also surviving Donna are her sister: Betty Murray (Fort Lauderdale, Florida); brother: Virgil Davis (Minota, Illinois) two sisters-in-law: Ardelle Davis (Eau Claire, Wisconsin) and Berit Davis (Minneapolis, Minnesota).
We will miss her greatly, but only for a little while.