Donna Marie Swift

Donna Marie Swift was born on June 13, 1953 in Kansas City. She was the oldest of 7 children, who all worked in their father's machine shop building valves for the Alaska pipeline. Her mother always said they were not a large family, since she was one of 7 children.

Donna moved out of her family home right out of high school, and put herself through nursing school at Avila University.
When I met her, she had already begun one of the first of many leadership roles at St. Joseph Hospital. Her growth and the growth of the people she worked with and mentored, made unbreakable bonds. They met for breakfast regularly, and she missed the last meeting together. Her healthcare career moved through several hospital corporations and healthcare-focused information technology companies. She earned her masters of nursing degree while working 50+ hours a week.

We got married on May 3, 1980, and just missed our 43rd wedding anniversary by 4 days. We were in our 50th year together. Donna always said, that we were together longer. She liked to tell people that we may have met in the nursery of the hospital we were both born in.

We enjoyed spending time together in many ways. For 20 years, we raced in SCCA Solo II together. Donna was a 5 time National Champion in progressively faster and faster classes. After 2001, we spent much of our recreational time riding bicycles and again built amazingly strong bonds with what has become our lifeline of support.

Through her battle with cancer, we were blessed with exceptional healthcare heroes. With their help, we were able to enjoy much more time together. If you see tears in my eyes, it will be with one of these whose skills and soul willed Donna to survive as long as she did. She passed on April 29, 2023, surrounded by loved ones and cherished friends.

As with any short review of a lifetime, this feels like an inadequate representation, but i hope that it gives you a glimpse of something new about Donna.

Submitted by Robert 'Bert' Swift.