Donna Bartlett died peacefully on Friday, March 24, 2023, after an extended battle with cancer at Scenic Manor in Iowa Falls. Funeral arrangements are pending with the Surls Funeral Home in Iowa Falls.
Donna Louise Rotzler was born December 21, 1927, in Iowa Falls, Iowa, to Bernard and Marjorie (Kelly) Rotzler. She graduated from Iowa Falls High School with the class of 1945. Following high school, Donna attended the Ellsworth Conservatory of Music developing her fine soprano voice. It was during a college-sponsored event at the Iowa Falls skating rink that Donna met Max Rowley Bartlett, a young farmer in the area who had moved with his family from Perry, Iowa, in 1945. Max and Donna were married on January 1, 1948, and to this union three sons were born: Steven, Paul, and Kelly.
Donna was a full-time wife, mom, and homemaker. She volunteered at school, sang in the choir at First Christian Church, taught Sunday school, traveled with her husband and family, and did all the privileged and responsible things that moms do.
During their marriage, Max and Donna were blessed to be able to travel around the world. They hiked the Austrian Alps, rode the Trans-Siberia Railway to China, and drove to Guatemala and the Panama Canal. Many of their trips were flown non-rev, “stand by” status thanks to their pilot son, Kelly. The couple drove to Alaska more than once, camping along the Alaska Canada HIghway. They spent winters in Sun City, Arizona, and later on the Big Island of Hawaii where Donna continued to sing in their congregational choir.
About three years after Max died in 2007, Donna was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Regular treatments effectively kept the cancer under control allowing Donna to continue life in Iowa Falls with a few months in Arizona during the winter.
Donna Louise Bartlett is survived by her three sons: Steven (Janet Crabtree) Bartlett of Fort Dodge; Paul (Linda Barhite) Bartlett of Iowa Falls, and Kelly of Charlotte, N.C.; and step sister-in-law Betty Ruth Mann Bauge of Iowa Falls. She was the grandmother of 16 grandchildren, 55 great-grandchildren, and two great-great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, step-father Elmer Mann, sister Audrey and brother-in-law Larry Parks; brother Jerome and sister-in-law Donna Rotzler, step-brother Neil Mann; and husband Max Bartlett.
Jesus tells us, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27).
surls.com
