Donna Jean Yoss passed away peacefully in Eugene, Oregon at the age of 80.
She was born in Newberg, Oregon to Jeannie and August Zenzen. Donna was the oldest of two children. She grew up in the small Oregon coastal town of Garibaldi. In 1958 Donna graduated from Neah-Kah-Nie High School in Rockaway Beach, Oregon. At age 18 Donna competed, and won, the Miss Oregon Gold Coast competition with pantomime as her talent in the competition. She went on with 9 other hopefuls to compete for Miss Oregon 1958. She then moved to Portland to become a keypunch operator for the log scaling bureau.
On Nov. 6, 1960, Donna married the love of her life Henry (Hank) Yoss, after only eight months of dating. Donna attended school with Hank’s sisters, therefore she knew him since grade school, but didn’t date him until after she graduated from high school. They were married in Tillamook and settled in Cottage Grove. They lived in several homes in Cottage Grove, but her favorite home was their 36-acre farm where they raised two boys, Kevin and Greg, and brought foster children into their home. She did every aspect of farm life including giving cows shots and moving irrigation and enjoyed every minute of it.
Donna was a jack of all trades. She was a business owner/partner with her husband running an ice cream/deli shop in the Cottage Grove downtown hotel in the 1970s.
For many years she did the bookkeeping and housekeeping for 20 residential rentals they own in Cottage Grove, all the while being a devoted housewife getting up by 5 a.m. every morning to see her husband off to work and making sure he had a good breakfast and lunch. She took pride in keeping her house clean and organized and making sure dinner was ready for her busy family.
While her children were attending school, she worked for South Lane School District, was very active in getting the CGHS booster club started and donated a lot of her time and presented many ideas for its success. She went on to be honored with many awards for her contributions to CGHS. She was a very good bowler and in one tournament won singles, doubles and all events. Donna enjoyed traveling with family and friends. The last trip she went on was to Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse with her husband and one of her grandsons.
Donna will be remembered by many as always being a very kind, gentle and nice person. Donna continued to support her adult children and was proud of all their endeavors. Family was everything to her and she always looked forward to attending family reunions, hosting holiday meals, playing cards, and attending University of Oregon Duck football games. When her grandchildren were little, she enjoyed spending time with them and would never turn down an opportunity to babysit. She was so proud of her grandchildren and of all their accomplishments.
After living over 60 years in Cottage Grove, she moved into Quail Crest Memory Care in Eugene where she resided for the past year-and-a-half.
Donna was a wonderful daughter, wife, sister, mother, mother-in-law and grandmother. She had a long hard fight with Parkinson’s disease.
Donna is survived by her Husband Henry (Hank); children, Kevin (Monica) Yoss and Greg (Mindy Roberts) Yoss, of Cottage Grove; grandchildren, Mandie Driskill of Springfield, Billy Edwards of Riverview, Floridia, and Brandon Yoss, Jordan Yoss, Chloe Yoss, Abbygail Yoss, Augustus Yoss all of Cottage Grove. Also surviving are four great-grandchildren and her sister, Sharon Rice, of Portland.
The family wishes to thank Hospice of Sacred Heart for its guidance and support. Also, many thanks to all of Donna’s caregivers for the wonderful care provided for her in the last few years. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the charity of your choice, one of Donna’s favorite places to donate was to the local Special Olympics. A get together for family and friends is planned for a later date in March of 2021.
