Donna Antoinette Lingwood
September 25, 1942 - December 26, 2017
Obituary
Donna “Toni” A. (Lundell) Lingwood was born September 25, 1942 to parents Rainer and Ruby. Her love of water came naturally, first with treasured time spent with her grandparents near Green Lake, and then later at the family home on Lake Sammamish. It was at “the house on the lake” where she truly earned her water wings: taking the rowboat to see friends, water-skiing, and even swimming across the lake on occasion.
After graduating from Issaquah High School, she convinced her parents to let her go to the University of Washington. There, she excelled in her studies, joined the Alpha Xi Delta sorority, was a member of the Rally Girls, and met her husband-to-be Dave. She went on to complete a Masters of Social Work at University of California, Berkeley while Dave was in the Peace Corps; she finished her degree and married Dave in 1966. The following years saw them indulging their mutual love of travel (backpacking, road trips, central and south America), learning (another masters degree, this time in Sociology), and exploration. They returned to Seattle in 1977 to raise their kids, Stephanie and Mark.
Seattle provided the backdrop for numerous family adventures: camping, boating, the arts, beach time, Mariners games, and UW football. She spent countless hours at Stephanie and Mark’s sporting events, and modeled lifelong learning by first getting another degree in Library Science, then teaching her kids how to research and to find anything in the UW libraries. After jobs in the medical library of Pacific Medical Center and the resource room of the Crisis Clinic, she retired and spent much of her time cooking up reasons to travel.
Donna passed away on December 26, 2017. She was preceded in death by her husband, Dave, and is survived by her children Stephanie and Mark, daughters-in-law Julia and Kristen, granddaughters Allison and Clara, brothers Terry and Colin, and sisters-in-law April and Betty. She leaves a legacy that is equal parts inspiration (to learn and travel), courage (to just do things), and admiration (at her astounding ability to eat just half a donut hole). A memorial service will be held at 9:30 am, Saturday, January 6, 2018 at Washington Memorial Park, WA 98188. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Donna’s memory to the American Association of University Women’s Educational Opportunities fund: https://ww2.aauw.org/donate-gifts/?treatment=DEFAULT9110.
My sincere condolences to you both, Stephanie and Mark, and to the rest of your family. The opportunity to meet and assist your mother at Aegis Living on Galer is something I will always treasure and be grateful for. Despite her inability to speak, we communicated quite actively and in our very short time together, she provided some of my most important, rather profound lessons in caregiving. She will certainly be missed but please know that I will remember her frequently, each time with great joy. – Tom
I’m so sorry to hear that Toni has died. She was a special friend, especially in college days. She and I were born on the exact same day, and therefore went through rush together and we both joined Alpha Xi Delta at the UW. Toni was a brilliant student, and yet very fun-loving. She taught me to waterski at her home on Lake Sammamish. She was in my wedding in 1967, and I was her Maid of Honor in 1966 when she married Dave. I have so many fond memories of our times together. My heart goes out to Stephanie and Mark and the whole family. I am sorry I was unable to attend the service yesterday.