Donamae "Donna" Amundson

Donamae H. “Donna” Amundson, 88, of La Crosse died on Saturday, June 18, 2022 at Hillview Healthcare Center.

She was born on April 14, 1934, in Calmar, IA to Edward and Beatrice (Lovin) Vodde and graduated from Aquinas High School, class of 1952.

It was while working at Motor Parts and Equipment Co. in the 1960’s that she met the love of her life, Dick Amundson. After dating for a bit, they both decided they weren’t getting any younger and they’d had enough of the single life.  They got married on October 15, 1966, at St. James the Less Catholic Church in La Crosse, and soon after Donna quit working and became a homemaker, while Dick quit Motor Parts in 1967 and started working for the City of La Crosse.

In 1970 they had Mary, in 1972 Mike came along, and in 1973 Jim was born.  Having three children under the age of 5 with Dick age 41 and Donna age 39….well, they decided that was enough!

Mom always “ruled the roost” – there was no “wait until your dad gets home” because he worked hard to support the family, so she was in charge of us kids…and in charge she was.   No one else needed to discipline the three of us, that was her job and she took it VERY seriously.  She always told us “one more time and THIS will happen,” and by golly, if we kept acting up THIS happened.   We all took many turns spending a lot of time sitting on a kitchen or dining room chair waiting for the big hand to get on the 6 so we could get up, or sitting for an hour or more after supper was over because we weren’t leaving our seat until every last pea was eaten.   We knew who was in charge….no doubt about it.

After we were grown and dad retired in 1991, the two spent their free time on daily morning trips to McDonald's for a somewhat burned English muffin with butter (referred to as a "hockey puck" by the workers there) or to Hardee’s for cinnamon raisin biscuits and biscuits and gravy.   After breakfast, mom would sit and knit or crochet while dad watched TV, or together they would go to watch either Mike or Jim play ball or watch the grandkids participate in their sports.

After dad’s passing in 2011, mom hated being alone talking to herself, so with Dean and Mary as chauffeur and co-pilot, the three drove across the state and picked up mom’s first pug, Raven.  After Raven passed, the three met up with the same breeder and mom adopted Prada.  Prada was her girl until mom fell in December 2016 and broke her hip, after which Mary made sure to bring Prada (along with her other pugs) for nursing home visits as often as she could.

Donna is survived by her daughter, Mary (Dean) Kulas; two sons, Mike (Kim) Amundson and their children, Grace and Grant; and Jim (Jen) Amundson and their children, Allen and Maggie; sisters Shirley Potaracke, Sherry (Bruce) Bion, Bunny (John) Mannel, Linda (Bruce Becker) Vodde, and Connie (Allen) Olsen, along with numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Bea and Ed; a sister and brother-in-law, Marilyn (Ted) Taylor; two brothers and sisters-in-law, Bob (Roberta) and Dale “Sonny” (Ruth); and a brother-in-law, Joe Potaracke; and on dad’s side, brother-in-laws and their spouses, Bob (Mary Jo), Bill (Betty), and sisters-in-law Lorraine (Leonard) Knutson and Anita.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 A.M. Saturday, July 9 ^th at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, with Rev. Rick Roberts officiating. A private family burial will be held at Gate of Heaven Cemetery at a later date. Friends and family may call at the church on Saturday from 9:30 A.M. until the time of services. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred.

Special thanks to the truly amazing staff at Hillview Healthcare Center – they took such good care of her during her stay, and we are so thankful for all of them and all they did for mom.