We are sad to announce the passing of Donna Rae Hess, of Gladstone Oregon.

She died Sunday February 26th 2023 at the age of 86, surrounded by her loving family.

Donna was born July 20,1936 to Dorothy and Bernard Leport in Hammond, Indiana.

She was the eldest of two children and is survived by her brother, Jim Leport of Chattanooga, Tennessee.

After earning a technical college degree, Donna moved to Lake County, Indiana where she met her husband, Bob. The two were married September 21, 1957.

Shortly after, Bob was transferred to Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, Washington where the couple met their lifelong friends, Don and Annona Mallett.

While still in Spokane, you could find Donna and Bob with their kids with Don and Annona and their 2 kids Marla and Darren camping on the weekends, going out on the boat, or creating lasting memories with the families over the years.

After Bob was out of the Army, they stayed in Spokane where their daughter Lynette and son David were born. Following their short stay in Spokane they would later move to Milwaukie Oregon and eventually settle down in Gladstone Oregon.

Donna worked at Key Bank in Lake Oswego for over 20 years. She started as a teller and would eventually work her way up the ranks and retire as a new account specialist. While working in new accounts, she would end up job sharing with her great friend Sue Cole.

Once she retired she was ready for a change of scenery and decided to move to Palm Springs, Indio area with a good neighbor and friend. She would become a snow bird to escape the cold Oregon weather.

In the 2 decades she was in California she was very active in the community. You could have found her doing activities with the red hat society where she spent a short time as the president, volunteering at the local hospital( JFK memorial hospital), the local museum and Indio Performing Arts Center. In her local community of Indian Palms Country Club, she sat as a member of the board and president of her Home Owners Association for several years, and would golf with the ladies of Indian Palms golf group.

While not volunteering you could always find her helping out a friend, working in her yard or working on a project for her house. But her favorite thing to do was sit on her back patio watching the golfers, with her great friends and neighbors Marcia and Reno having a glass of white wine and bean dip or chocolate sharing good memories and laughs.

Donna also was an avid traveler and was part of a world travel traveling group. While in her traveling years, she would take her yearly trips to Mexico. Her favorite trips including Europe with her favorite place being Italy, China, Hawaii and trips back home to visit her daughter and granddaughter.

In the last year of her life, she decided to move back to Oregon to be closer to her daughter, granddaughter and her husband. While here she would spend the summer with great memories around the fire pit, in the pool and surrounded by ones who loved her.

In Donna's life she would battle a hard battle with breast cancer where she would become a breast cancer survivor of over 20 years.

Donna is survived by her daughter Lynette Schauer of Gladstone Oregon, son David Hess of Gardena California, Grand daughter and husband Jessie and Erik Campbell of Gladstone Oregon, her brother and his wife Jim and Joy Leport of Chattanooga Tennessee and niece Erin and Johnny Rader of Atlanta Georgia.

There will be a viewing at Hustad Funeral home located at 7232 North Richland Ave Portland Oregon 97203 on Thursday March 16th 2023 from 12-5pm

Donna will be buried at Willamette National Cemetery with her husband Robert Hess located at 11800 SE Mt Scott Blvd Portland Oregon 97086 on Friday March 17th at 1:30pm.