Dona Lee Johnston

Dona Lee Johnston (nee Hampton), 91, passed away September 8, 2024, at her home in Marshall. Dona was born in Chillicothe, Ohio on February 8, 1933, to Gladys and Walter Hampton.

She attended school in Chillicothe and was an avid youth bicyclist, winning community races on more than one occasion. As a young girl she made many friends, some of whom remained lifelong pen pals.

Dona enjoyed movies and wrote to many movie stars receiving a large assortment of studio and fan club images and autographs for her collection. She was known to reminisce about the then cost of going to the movies being 20 cents. She was a dedicated student of the piano and enjoyed playing throughout much of her life.

Her father, a paper mill supervisor, accepted a position in Watertown, NY in 1950. This move from southern Ohio to upstate New York was even more significant for Dona than could be imagined. In her senior year at Watertown High School, she was known as the “southern bell”. There, in homeroom she met another senior student and hometown boy, Chuck Johnston, who would eventually become her husband. After high school graduation, Dona entered nurses training at the House of the Good Samaritan in New York. Chuck, in turn, entered the Army and headed to Texas. They corresponded and planned their future together. Dona graduated as a registered nurse and began her career. Chuck left the Army honorably and attended St Lawrence University on the GI bill. They were married September 10, 1955, at Asbury United Methodist Church in Watertown. 

Dona worked full-time as a nurse until 1958 when their first child was born. By then Chuck’s career was established in the insurance industry. They moved to Hastings, Michigan in 1964 when Chuck began his longtime employment with Hastings Mutual Insurance Company. The next year Dona was diagnosed as a type I diabetic. A disease she managed with courage and discipline until her death. She was awarded a 50-year medal from both the Joslin Diabetes Center and the Eli Lilly Company recognizing her longevity as a type I diabetic.

Dona worked in Hastings as a nurse in the Head Start Program and at Thornapple Manor Medical Care Facility into the early 1980’s. She was an original participant in the long-standing Harvard University Nurses’ Health Study which has uncovered important risk factors for women related to major chronic diseases.

Dona and Chuck enjoyed each home they owned. The domestic arts filled most of their spare time. Together they gardened, acquired and refinished antique furniture, and generally improved everything they set their minds or hands to. Dona particularly enjoyed sewing, decorative painting, and ancestry research.

Dona and Chuck had lasting friendships with Marshall residents who also worked for mutual insurance companies. They often celebrated their wedding anniversary, which coincided with the Historic Home Tour, in Marshall with friends. In 2009 they moved to Marshall to be near their family.

Dona is survived by her daughter, Janet Ostrum (Norman); granddaughter, also a nurse, Carly (Zachariah) Ostrum-Woodworth; and granddog, Ziggy Ostrum all of Marshall. Her brother, Ronald J. Hampton, also survives. Dona was proceeded in death by an infant sister; her parents; and in 2019 by husband, Charles F. Johnston.

Memorial gifts to honor Dona can be made to the Marshall Community Foundation Dona L. Johnston fund supporting Oaklawn Medical Group Endocrinology and Diabetic Care. The family is served by Kempf Family Funeral and Cremation Services. Interment at Oakridge Cemetery, Marshall. Also, you may visit www.kempffuneralhome.com to view the online obituary, to sign the online guest book or to leave the family condolences.