Donna Tifft

A Graveside service for Donna Tifft, age 76, of Spirit Lake, will be held Saturday, October 22, 2016 at 11:00 AM at Lakeview Gardens Cemetery in Spirit Lake. Visitation will be on Friday, October 21st from 5:00-6:30pm at Turner Jenness Funeral Home in Spirit Lake. Donna Tifft was born on November 22, 1939 in Jackson, Minnesota. She was the twin daughter of Pete and Emma Knuth McKnight. Donna was baptized and confirmed at Grace Lutheran Church in rural Jackson County, Minnesota (Grace Lutheran Church was founded by her great-grandfather in 1894). Donna attended grade school in a one-room country school near Sioux Valley, Minnesota. She attended high school in Lakefield (freshman year) and Sioux Valley (sophomore year). In 1955, her family moved to the town of Lake Park, Iowa, where her father served as the Chief of Police. Donna attended Lake Park High School during her junior and senior years, and was crowned homecoming queen in 1956. Donna worked briefly as a waitress at Vick's Corner café after graduating from high school in 1957. Shortly thereafter she moved with her family to Spirit Lake and began working at Berkley's. In 1959, she and her sister, Ronna, attended nursing school in Faribault, Minnesota. Upon graduation in 1960, Donna and Ronna began working at Dickinson County Memorial Hospital in Spirit Lake. In 1962, Donna met Lowell Tifft and they were married on September 8, 1963 at Grace Lutheran Church in Spirit Lake, Iowa. Donna was an at-home mom, and raised three sons, Bradley, Robert, and Brent. In the late 1960s, the family lived in Denver, Colorado, where Lowell worked at Western Electric's engineering headquarters. Upon returning to Spirit Lake, Donna volunteered to help deliver meals for Meals-on-Wheels and provided immunizations and scoliosis checks to students at the school. In 1982, Donna resumed her nursing career, working at the County Home. When the County Home was acquired by Seasons Mental Health, Donna became the Director of Nursing and Assistant Administrator, frequently working as acting administrator during prolonged absences of the administrator. Donna retired in 2003. During retirement, Donna enjoyed spending time on her dock and being with her grandkids. She especially enjoyed playing video games with them. She was an active member of Grace Lutheran Church since 1958. Donna passed away peacefully at McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on October 15, 2016. Over the years, Donna enjoyed many pets, especially her dogs, including Domino, a Pomeranian; Elsa, a German Shepherd; Darci, a Doberman Pinscher; and Sidney, a Miniature Pinscher. She also enjoyed fishing, sketching, gardening, canning, macramé, cutting hair, and collecting Terry Redlin art prints. Donna was a great cook and was known for her beautiful Christmas trees every year. Donna was preceded in death by her infant brother in 1945, her father in 1961, her mother in 1995, her twin sister, Ronna McKnight, in 2002, and her brother and sister-in-law, Roger and Kathy McKnight, in 2004. She is survived by her husband, Lowell; three sons, Brad and his wife Caroline of Spirit Lake, Robert of Dallas, Texas, and Brent and his wife Michelle of Sioux Falls; five grandchildren, Courtney, Carter, Elisabeth, Christian, and Nicholas (and his wife, Katie); and many cousins, including Joan McKnight of Spirit Lake; and several nieces and nephews.