Donna Weaver

Donna Lynne Weaver, 60, passed away peacefully at her home in Gretna, LA, on Sunday, July 9, 2023, with her mother by her side.  For the past year, she had been suffering from glioblastoma brain cancer.

 

Donna was the beloved daughter of Sarah Cabaniss Weaver and the late Donald Elliott Weaver.  She was born October 9, 1962, in Longview, TX, where she grew up.  She graduated from Longview High School in 1981, attended TX A&M in College Station, and El Centro Culinary Arts School in Dallas, TX.  

 

After school, she primarily worked in food service.  At one time in Dallas, she owned and converted an Airstream trailer into a walk-up diner,  "Another Rosdside Attraction," receiving high acclaim for her food from the Dallas Morning News food editor. She had her own catering business for awhile, and also made dog biscuits, which she sold as "Dallas Dog Treats."  She turned her love of cooking and helping others into feeding the homeless in Dallas for two and a half years, making breakfast every Sunday and taking it to downtown Dallas, with the help of a friend, where a group awaited her.

 

After living in Dallas for some years, she moved to Gretna, LA, in 2011.  There, she was employed by Rouses Market until she could no longer work.  

 

Besides cooking, Donna loved gardening, reading, traveling, camping, the beach, animals, art and Mardi Gras.  A highlight of her life was riding on a Zulu float in costume.  She was especially fond of animals, and her last dog, Lucy, was devoted to her.  She was creative and talented, selling many of her paintings, stained glass, and beaded crosses.

 

Donna loved her friends, and they loved her, describing her as kind and good, generous, loyal, an amazing, awesome woman, incredibly creative, a really good friend and listener, a beautiful soul, hopeful and optimistic, no matter what life threw at her, and hard-working.  She  was also strong, stalwart, determined, independent and stubborn.  Full of life, she was beautiful in spirit and in person.  She will be missed beyond words by all who knew and love her.  

 

Donna was pre-deceased by her dad, Don;  grandparents Eula (Fendlason) and Harry Cabaniss, Rose (Claxton) and Paul Weaver;  and former husband, Chris Jurgensen.  She is survived by her mother, Sarah;  sister, Julie Weaver Kennedy (Mark);  niece, Ashleigh Kennedy Thomas (Marc) and children, Truett and Georgia;  nephew, Taylor Kennedy (Katie);  uncle, Bob Weaver (Terri); stepmother, Julie Weaver; and several cousins.

 

Cremation was handled by Mothe Funeral Home in Harvey, LA.  A memorial will be held in Longview at  First Baptist Church Ford Chapel, 209 E. South St., at 2:00 p.m., Friday, August 4, 2023.   Pastor Tim Watson will officiate.

 

Donations in Donna's memory may be made to any no-kill animal rescue shelter, or to Glioblastoma Foundation, P. O. Box 62066, Durham, NC 27715 . Thank you to all who prayed, visited, sent cards, and called during Donna's illness.  Your kindness then and now is so appreciated.  

 

Live on, sweet girl, in a world without suffering.  We miss you.  "The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."  Psalm 34:18.