Donna M. Veire

Donna Marie Veire, was born March 21, 1929 to Thomas and Mary (Kelly) Hurney in Elkton, South Dakota. She spent her childhood in Elkton, graduating country school in 1946. When Donna was 18, her mother passed away, leaving her and her older siblings to help raise a family of 11 children and forging a family bond that would positively impact her entire life. After high school, Donna attended teacher’s college in Madison, South Dakota and received a teaching certificate. She taught country school near Elkton in the late 1940s as well as working as a secretary at the Elkton bank. On June 1, 1950, Donna married the love of her life, Virgil Veire at Our Lady of Good Counsel church in Elkton. The couple lived in Elkton and several towns throughout the area including Elkton and Ward in South Dakota, and Pipestone and Lake Benton in Minnesota. After farming for a few years near Ward, Virgil worked for Standard Oil in Pipestone and Donna stayed at home to raise their growing family. The couple moved to Lake Benton in 1961 with Virgil becoming an independent Amoco jobber. The business expanded and Donna’s role as bookkeeper at Veire Farm & Home Service Inc. (1968 – 1984) did as well. Through it all, dances at the showboat, Saturday night dinners at the Knotty Pine, and parties at “the barn” were part of the fabric of their life. Donna and Virgil reaped the rewards of their efforts and sold their business in 1984. They purchased their retirement home in Mesa, Arizona and spent many years enjoying warmer winter weather, playing golf and cards with many friends and family. After Virgil passed away in 1998, Donna continued to spend her winters in Mesa until 2016. In 2014, Donna left the home she loved in Lake Benton to move to the Twin Cities to be closer to family. On July 31, 2023, Donna passed away peacefully at Parks Place Memory Care, surrounded by her loving family, at the age of 94 years, 4 months, and 10 days.

Faith and family were very important throughout Donna’s life. She served at the St. Genevieve church in Lake Benton and was also a member of the American Legion Auxiliary and the Red Hats Society. She shared her faith with her family through prayer and demonstrating a warm, hospitable, loving way of life. Friends were always welcome and, true to her Irish heritage, she loved to socialize. She taught her children to pray and emphasized the importance of spending time with those you love. She shared her hobbies of sewing, gardening, and card playing, and loved to entertain, cook, and bake. She was especially fond of shopping trips to Sioux Falls and the Twin Cities, where she was always able to make time for some rhubarb pie at lunch and a libation at happy hour.

In lieu of flowers, family would prefer memorials be directed to:

Alzheimer's Association