October 25, 1948 – September 26, 2023
Donna Jean (Rogers) Bramhall of Peabody, formerly of Reading, passed away on the afternoon of September 26, 2023, at the age of 74.
Donna was born in Marysville, California but spent the bulk of her childhood growing up in Bedford, Massachusetts. She is the oldest daughter of James and Marion (Clark) Rogers and was the older sister of Diane (Rogers) Johnson, late of Wakefield, Massachusetts.
Donna was the wife of Charles (Chuck) Bramhall for over 50 years until his passing in October of 2020. She is survived by her three children, David Bramhall of Peabody, Meredith Bramhall of Billerica, and Jacqueline (Jackie) Bramhall Anderson of New Ipswich, NH.
She was a loving sister-in-law to Frederick and Joyce Bramhall of Norwood, Gregory Bramhall of Needham, and Allen Bramhall of Billerica, devoted aunt to Jeffrey Bramhall and his wife Lodrina Cherne of Arlington, Allison Bramhall of Providence, RI, and Devin Bramhall of Brooklyn, NY, and mother-in-law to Wesley Anderson, of New Ipswich, NH.
Chuck and Donna were married on November 25, 1967. They spent the first few years of their marriage down in Kentucky, where Chuck was stationed at Fort Knox for several years before eventually heading to Camp Eagle in Vietnam, at which time Donna moved to Lexington to stay with Chuck’s family until he was discharged from the army. In 1971, they welcomed David to their little family, and in 1974 they purchased their house in Reading, where they would raise David and his two younger sisters, Meredith & Jackie, over the next few decades.
After years of taking jobs simply to make ends meet (as an operator at the phone company or a waitress at Friendly’s, just to name a few), Donna found decades of happiness as a preschool teacher for the Two-Year-Old class at Christian Cooperative Preschool (CCP) at Old South United Methodist Church. Donna loved her time at CCP, built lifelong friendships with her colleagues, and enjoyed watching children learn and grow and become their own individual selves with personalities and interests that she constantly encouraged.
Donna was not someone who had any interest in being in the spotlight, and never sought out accolades for herself. However, she was always quick to find the good in others and had an unwavering ability to make people feel good about themselves, whether it was with a simple compliment or a thoughtful gesture.
On top of that, one of Donna’s favorite things to do was help people. Whether she was volunteering to chaperone field trips, carpooling, leading Cub Scouts, Brownie, and Girl Scout troops, cooking or baking for potlucks and bake sales or serving on the Board of Trustees for Old South Church, Donna was always first in line to lend a hand, no matter how busy she was.
Donna was the ultimate caregiver; kind, compassionate, and quick to put others needs before her own. When Chuck’s health began to fail in the final years of his life, Donna devoted all of her time to his care without hesitation.
Donna loved creating fun & imaginative Halloween costumes for her children over the years and always went the extra mile on birthdays, making sure that the birthday girl or boy got to pick their favorite meal for their birthday dinner, which she would make with love, and usually was accompanied by a creative (and delicious) homemade cake.
Donna loved spending time at the family cottage in Bridgewater, NH, reading books and taking drives around Newfound Lake.
She loved sewing, quilting, and figuring out how things are made, whether it was to build Adirondack chairs, repair or restore furniture, create quilts out of old t-shirts, or any number of projects that were in various stages of completion.
A joint Memorial Service for Donna and Chuck will be held on Saturday, November 18, at 11:00 a.m. at Old South United Methodist Church (6 Salem St., Reading, MA), with a reception/visiting hours immediately following from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Donna’s memory to Christian Cooperative Preschool: 6 Salem St., Reading, MA 01867, or Winchester Hospital Center for Cancer Care: 620 Washington St., Winchester, MA 01980.
