Donna Jean Appleby-Dykes passed on Wednesday night Sept. 14 at Careage of Whidbey in Coupeville from complications of a long-term illness.
Donna was born Sept. 4th, 1951 at the Marine Corps hospital at Camp Pendleton, Calif. She was the first of six children born to Donald E. Appleby and Melba J. Anthony.
She was always an energetic and mischievous big sister. Donna blossomed into the quintessential ‘60s girl, doing things like sneaking into the hotel rooms of Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan. There wasn’t much that was going to stop her once she had a plan.
In her late teens, Donna gave birth to her first daughter Vanessa. A few years later she married John Wilhelm of Idaho. After John’s death, Donna became the southeast Idaho regional director for Campfire, a position that suited her very well due to her nurturing nature and her love for children. During this time, Donna met James Dykes of Pocatello, Idaho the couple were married and blessed with two more daughters Jaime then Erinn. Upon the completion of Jim’s postgraduate studies the family moved to the Seattle area where Donna had a brief career at Nintendo, before deciding to be a stay at home mom with the two younger girls.
In November of 2001, Donna suffered a massive stroke due to complications from MS and diabetes. After a couple of years in various convalescent facilities the family decided to have her relocated to Whidbey Island to be as close as possible to her mother. Kevin and the wonderful staff at Careage took to Donna like bears to honey. Angela was more like a younger sister than a nurse and Stacy could calm Donna down during long and sometimes difficult nights. Donna’s favorite place at Careage was adjacent to the west-side nursing station, where she could always be found enjoying meals and rockin’ out to her ‘60s tunes on her boom box. This location was also right next to the pre-school area and Donna loved to visit with the passing toddlers on a daily basis.
As things were becoming more difficult in the final months, I kept telling Donna, “Just a few more days and we are going to have a 60th birthday party!” On Sunday the fourth we did just that. Donna always looked forward to sharing her Baskin & Robbins ice cream cake with the staff and residents at Careage. In all, Donna battled her illness just short of 10 years. The pain and suffering she endured being only masked by the grace and dignity she displayed. She was and still is an inspiration to all who came in contact with her. Even though she could not speak she could still find a way to crack us all up!
Melba passed in early 2009. Donna is survived by her dad and namesake Don, five siblings, Diane, Robert, JoAnn, James and Brian; and her husband, James, and the three wonderful girls, Vanessa, Jamie and Erinn. At the end of the day we are all very happy that Donna is at peace and at home with the Lord and Mom. We would be remiss if we did not comment and express our immense gratitude for the quality care and love she got from everyone at Careage over the past seven-plus years. They were all every bit as much of her family as we are.
Final arrangements are being gently provided by Visser Funeral Home of Langley.
