She will be forever remembered as a wife and mother who did anything, and everything she could to make her family THE priority during her entire life. Donna was the wife who kept the household running smoothly, basically doing everything that needed to be done to allow her husband, Paul, and her children Teri, Jeffrey and Sheri to accomplish their dreams.
Donna (Mum) always provided her children with whatever they needed in life. She was the kind of mother who continually went without so her children could have more. Simply put, she made sacrifices for her family.
She was the kind of friend who was quick with a joke, or sarcastic (but never hurtful) remark, that would bring a smile or a laugh to anyone around her. She was the friend who would “pick something up at the store” not for any special occasion, but just because she thought they would enjoy it. She was the kind of co-worker who would bring some of her famous peanut butter fudge (with nuts) to share with her co-workers, and when told that someone didn’t eat nuts, she would go home and make a batch without nuts, making a special delivery the very next day.
Donna was the oldest of three girls raised by her single mother, due to the death of her father when Donna was only four years old. She and her sisters, Dian, and Mary, were raised by the village of her close extended family, in Bath, Maine. It was there where she met and married R. Paul Burns in 1964, moving to Topsham in 1967, soon after the birth of their first baby.
She elected, and wanted to stay home to raise her three children, and did not return to the out-ofhome workforce until her baby, Sheri, was going to school fulltime. Donna looked for and acquired a job that still allowed her to be home with her children as they got off the afternoon bus. As she has recently said, “All I really ever wanted to be was a good mom.” Safe to say, she accomplished her goal, and exceeded the standard.
Donna is survived by her husband of 50 years, R. Paul Burns of Topsham; two sisters, Dian Bruening and her husband Joseph; and Mary Burns and her husband, Albert; three children, and two bonus children, Teri Huntington, and her husband, Gerald; Sheri Bryant and her husband, Dan; and Jeffrey Burns; her bonus children who she loved as her own, Kevin Burns and his wife, Melody; and Kelly Burns. She also is survived by eight grandchildren.
Please join her family and friends at the Orion Performing Arts Center at the Mt. Ararat Middle School in Topsham, Maine, on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014, at 9:30. Be ready to share a “Donna story” if you wish to Celebrate the Life of Donna Doris Burns. For those unable to attend, memories and condolences can be expressed at www.brackettfuneralhome.com.
In lieu of flowers, Donna’s wish would be for people to make a contribution to the Good Shepherd’s Food Bank, 3121 Hotel Road, P.O. Box 1807, Aurburn, ME 04211.
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