Mary Alexander Dona Obituary

Mary Alexander Dona attended Mainland High School in Daytona Beach, FL. View the obituary, post a memory, or share a photo about Mary Alexander Dona.

Graduation Year	Class of 1934
Date of Passing	Jul 18, 2010
About	Mary Dona of Holly Hill passed away on July 18, 2010. She was born January 25, 1918 on the family farm, in Hazelrigg, Indiana during a snow storm to the late Noel and Leoma Alexander. The family moved to Daytona Beach in 1926 to operate the family owned broom factory. She graduated from Mainland High School in 1934 and went to work as a secretary. She married Harold Hepburn Dona in 1938. During World War II Harold served in the U.S. Merchant Marine and Mary worked at the shipyard at St. Simons Island, GA. They moved to Keystone Heights and returned to Daytona Beach after her divorce in 1956. Mary was the proud mother of two daughters, Patricia Dona Drago and Noel Dona Cox, who also grew up in the Daytona Beach area and graduated Mainland High School, both are present residents of the area. Pat retired last year as Executive Director of Facilities for the Volusia School District and Noel is the owner/broker for Landmark Properties, her real estate firm. Mary was an artist all her life. She only worked other jobs to provide for herself and her family. She looked at the forest and saw the colors of the trees, not just the trees themselves. Her watercolors of Bulow Park, Sugar Mill Gardens and the Loop express what she termed FAM â€“ Feeling, Atmosphere and Mystery. She participated with the Plein Air painters and her work was shown in several local galleries. In addition to painting, she took ballet classes into her seventies and danced several times in the Daytona Beach Civic Ballet production of the Nutcracker. She was never bored because her active imagination always presented new projects to undertake and new fields to study. Billiards and astronomy were among her more enduring interests. She lived life to the fullest and shared her enthusiasm with everyone around her. In addition to her two daughters, she has two granddaughters, Karey Cox Cobb (Port Orange), Daria Drago Giron (Arvada, Co.); and four great grandchildren. Mary passed away peacefully with her two daughters at her side and the caring assistance of Florida Hospital Hospice Care. There will be no formal service and the family will scatter the ashes at a later date. Published in Daytona Beach News-Journal on July 25, 2010