Donna Hinote Towle

Donna breathed her last breath as graciously as she lived on Sat. Sept. 29, 2018. She was born to Allen “Bus” and Evelyn Hinote on Feb. 5, 1924. She graduated from Mt. Baker High School with honors in 1941, after skipping the 3rd and 5th grades in Elementary school, then graduated from Success Business College and worked at Puget Power for two years. In 1942, Donna enrolled into the University of Washington, where she pledged Kappa Delta Sorority. She, with her husband, loved their Tyee Season Football tickets for more than 26 years, she loved watching their games up until the end. She met the love of her life, Jack G. Towle, upon his return from WWII. They were married in April of 1947 and moved to Everson. Donna’s parents purchased Hinote’s Hardware and Furniture in 1937. Jack joined the family business, which thrived for 50 years. Over their lives together Jack and Donna were members of four dance clubs from Bellingham to Seattle. The Seattle club was held in Smith Tower (at the time, the tallest building in Seattle), where they were joined by their fraternity and sorority friends and danced the night away to the big band of that evening. Donna wanted you to know that she didn’t have a pair of shoes she couldn’t dance in! They were fortunate to travel the world and met numerous people to whom they remained lifelong friends. Her many activities included, aerobics, water aerobics, dancing, walking and golf. Besides her family, her greatest passion was Bridge. She belonged to four bridge clubs and continued to play at Mt. Baker Care Center until the last week of her life! Donna was preceded in death by her parents, Bus and Evelyn Hinote, husband Jack Towle, daughter Stacey Machu, granddaughter Courtney Drew and her sister and husband Bonnie and Herb Vaniman. She leaves to survive her son, Gregory Towle, her daughter Shelly (Bryan) McKay and three beloved grandsons, Brad (Kristy) McKay, Dustin McKay and Darin (Lawanda) McKay. Her seven treasured great-grandchildren: Connor, Leah, Adison, Austin, Duncan, Jack and Drew McKay, and her nephews Curt (Julie) Vaniman and their children Eric (Katie) and Kendra, and Scott (“Kimmy”) Pepin and their children Shayna, Alexandra and Drew. Six days before she passed Donna gathered many of her family and friends to say good-bye. She felt it was such a gift! Her absence will leave a very significant void on this earth. Her grandson Darin wrote “A statue in our soul you will always be.” She loved extravagantly and lived life with a strength, radiance and passion that was contagious! She delighted in her life filled with joy, laughter and song. Her Faith and relationship with her Lord couldn’t be rivaled. We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to our “family” at Mt. Baker Care Center. They cared for her with all the love, honor and respect she deserved. It was the perfect home for her in her last couple of years. Her life was celebrated at a private family burial. In honor of her daughter Stacey, memorials may be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Northwest Chapter, 1215 4th Ave #1100, Seattle, WA 98161. You may share memories with the family at www.westfordfuneralhome.com .