Donna Marie Gardner, of Moscow, passed away peacefully at home because of age-related causes Wednesday, April 6, 2022.

Born on Jan. 29, 1932, to M.E. “Mike” and Dora E. Hanson, she and her younger brother Richard “Dick” A. Hanson grew up on the family homestead 4 miles west of Ferdinand. Donna attended the one-room Pine Grove School and graduated valedictorian from Ferdinand High School in 1949. As a student, Donna won multiple sewing awards including a train trip to the National 4-H convention in Chicago.

Donna attended North Idaho College of Education, now Lewis-Clark State College, in Lewiston for two years until the school closed because of a lack of funding under then-Gov. Len B. Jordan. She moved to Grangeville as one of “Jordan’s orphans” — a reference to the governor’s lack of support — to ironically begin work for that same governor at Jordan Motors. It was back home on the Prairie where she met and later married Robert J. Gardner on Jan. 20, 1955. During a short stint in Boise, the couple welcomed daughter Mary, and by the early 1960s, the family settled in Moscow. On the Palouse, they added daughter Kathy, and Donna would go on to live the rest of her life in the home purchased 55 years ago.

Donna was a bookkeeping, 10-key and shorthand master. She worked for many companies, including J.A. Albertson in Boise, multiple car dealerships including Walt Housley Ford in Pullman, Security Furniture in Moscow and finally the Hayden Ross accounting firm in Moscow. As 10-key and shorthand became obsolete, her boss, Pat Ross, asked Donna if she would like to learn this new thing called a “computer.” She became a computing whiz and continued as an invaluable asset before retiring at the age of 70.

Donna’s husband Bob passed in 1988, and her sharp mind and good health allowed her to survive her husband for 35 years that included abundant travel and quality time with friends and family during her senior years. She was a member of Moscow Central Lions, Women of the Moose, Bowling League, Road Runners and the Moscow Church of the Nazarene, where she served as treasurer for 20 years. She loved gardening and spent her leisure time working in her flowerbeds.

Donna is survived by daughters Mary Brodersen, of St. Louis, and Kathy (Charles) Stefani, of Moscow; grandson Jeff Carlson (Ben Szulanczyk), of Washington, D.C., and granddaughter Kara (Caleb) Barnes, of Denver; stepgrandson Coben (Michelle) Stefani, of Plant City, Fla.; and stepgranddaughter Chalis (Shane) Butler, of Lakeland, Fla.; five stepgreat-grandchildren; sister-in-law Dorothy Frei Hanson, of Ferdinand; nephew Mike (Kim) Hanson, of Ferdinand; and nieces Corinne and Sherri Hanson, of Washington. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, son-in-law Allan Brodersen, and brother.

The family would like to thank Drs. Spain and Bouchard, Marie Martson, of Elite Home Health, Guardian Property Services, Hodgins Drug, Hayden Ross and Lori Harmon for their care of Donna, and requests memorial donations be sent to either “Missions” in care of the Church of the Nazarene or Moscow Central Lions Club.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Moscow Church of the Nazarene.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Short’s Funeral Chapel of Moscow and condolences may be left at shortsfuneralchapel.com.