Donna Suzanne Grubic

Donna Suzanne (Orth) Grubic, age 69, passed away peacefully surrounded by her family and close friends. Donna battled cancer over the course of the last 14 months.  Donna was born in Manitowoc WI to her parents Donald and Adeline (Gorychka) Orth on September 17, 1952.  Donna grew up in Manitowoc and met the future love of her life Paul Grubic on a blind date.  Paul says “she got a free meal, and I got a date;” it turned out to be fortuitous, as the couple would have celebrated 40 years of marriage this year. Following a job change for Paul, the couple moved to Neenah, and soon added Allison to their family.

Donna was a teacher at heart and spent her life teaching others.  She taught health and physical education classes for her profession and coached a variety of sports as daughter Allison grew up. As a hobby she taught many the art of quilting- she was a remarkable quilter, and many of her friends and family have handmade keepsakes made of jeans or even tee shirts of those she loved.

Following her retirement in 2010 from the Shiocton Schools, Donna taught quilting at FVTC, and spent free time fishing with Paul, growing vegetables, playing Sheepshead or Canasta with her friends, and visiting the cottage in Door County.  Her time at the cottage was filled with water-skiing, swimming and all manner of water sport activities. She was a proud and devoted grandma and loved spending time with her two grandsons. She is remembered as someone who was not shy about getting her hands dirty, rolling up her sleeves and taking on a new challenge or task.

Donna is survived by her husband Paul, daughter Allison (Ryan) Peterson, grandsons Wesley and Emmett, brother Don (Ruby) Orth, nieces Lisa (Ryan) Klein and Macrae (Ryan) Fuller and nephew Tyler (Grace) Brennan.  Donna is also survived by countless cousins, friends who were more like family, great nieces and nephew, students and other family members.

Preceding Donna in death are her parents, parents in law, Paul and Madeline (“Rocky”) Grubic, sister-in-law and brother-in-law Christine (Dale) Brennan, and stepfather Oscar Lorenz.  Donna is further preceded by other family members and good friends.

A memorial service for Donna will be held on Tuesday June 21 at 11:00am at Wichmann Funeral Home, 537 N Superior Street, Appleton.  Friends and family may gather to greet the family beginning at 9:00am until the start of the service.  Please join us for Donna’s favorite Glass Nickel Pizza following the service.

A special thank you to Donna’s wonderful care team including ThedaCare at Home Hospice, the oncology team at ThedaCare as well as dear friends Peggy, JoAnn, Gail, Roberta, and Suzi.

In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund will be set up in her honor.