Donna M. Sylvester

Obituary

Donna Mae (Voigt) Sylvester was born on December 7, 1948, at the Hutchinson Community Hospital by Doctor Kenneth Peterson to Elroy and Gladys (Brelje) Voigt. Due to a snowstorm, she was baptized January 1, 1949, at the First Evangelical Lutheran Church parsonage in Hutchinson by Reverend W.G. Voigt. At three months she was sick with pneumonia. In the hospital she received oxygen and 26 penicillin shots. At the age of two she moved with her family to Gaylord and lived there all her life.

At the age of eight, she was proud to have her first job washing dishes at Laura and Freddie’s Café in downtown Gaylord. She received 50 cents and thought she was rich. At the age of nine, she started babysitting for families in Gaylord. Throughout her lifetime, she cared for over 42 different families with 87 children.

On April 15, 1962, she was confirmed at the Gaylord City Hall by the Reverend R.A. Marquardt as the new Immanuel Lutheran Church was being built. Her confirmation verse was 1 John 2:25.

On June 1, 1966, she graduated from Gaylord High School. While still in high school she started working at the Fingerhut Office in the old downtown mercantile building. Later it was transferred to the new office building southeast of town. When the Fingerhut office moved to St. Cloud, she worked for a while in the factory. She worked at Fingerhut for over nine years.

On April 8, 1967, Donna was married to Orlin Sylvester at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Gaylord by Reverend R.A. Marquardt. In 1975, she started working at Hebeisen Grocery Store. She worked there for over ten years. On December 5, 1976, they had their only child, a son, Aaron. She was always proud of him and he always came first for her. Donna and Orlin shared 58 years of marriage.

She began working at the Gaylord Food-N-Fuel in 1987. In 1990, she became the manager of the Food-N-Fuel and later Ag Land Co-op in Winthrop. She got used to getting up at four o’clock every morning to do the daily baking and bookwork. She enjoyed all the regular customers that came in for their morning coffee and to say Hello. Her favorite activity was going out and giving treats to all the dogs that came there with their masters. She worked there for 18 years before she retired. A lot of the regular customers told her that in one month she would miss working. She never missed the work, but she did miss seeing and talking to all the regular customers.

After she retired, she started helping two elderly women in Gaylord. With the first one, they had many trips with a lot of fun and laughs to the cabin and Northern Lights Casino by Walker. The best was when at the casino they couldn’t find the car. After walking up and down the parking lot maybe a dozen times looking for it, they realized they were in the wrong lot. They also had many trips and fun times at Jackpot Junction.

Then for almost five years, she helped another lady with her home and taking care of her finances. Later there were weekly visits to see her at Harmony River in Hutchinson. With both ladies, they enjoyed long talks about Gaylord and as they say the good old days. They remembered when all the stores were open on Friday nights. The downtown smelled of popcorn from Happy Deis and his popcorn wagon. It was always parked on the corned by Renner’s Drug store. People in town didn’t really know any street numbers. They could tell you where the house was by telling you to go two blocks, turn left and it was the second house. As a small community they knew most of the people and who lived in each house.

Donna was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Gaylord where she taught Sunday School for many years. She was a former member of St. John’s Lutheran Church, Mountville and also taught Sunday School.

In the late 1990s a special cockapoo named Abby came into her life. That started a chain reaction of many more. Her special kids as she called them were Abby, Austin, Lexi and Kyleah. When several friends were no longer able to care for their dogs, she adopted and cared for Langston, Fonzie, and Max. Her kids were very special and she had birthday parties with cake and presents. Through the years she also watched and cared for over 28 different dogs of friends. She got along with most dogs and they all liked her and she never spoiled any of them!

She liked to watch four special girls and play games and do crafts. There was one that could never beat her at Jenga. They made a lot of different crafts through the years. She like to read. If it was a good book she would sit and read until she was done. Donna liked to crochet and made many afghans. She a had a large collections of Sylvester the Cat merchandise. It overflowed so much a lot of it had to be packed away. She was also proud of her many schnauzer figurines. Donna loved to decorate for all the holidays. Her favorite was Christmas and putting up all her large trees. One that had all snowmen and snowflake ornaments. Another with all dog and Sylvester ornaments. There was also a special one in her kitchen with antique cookie cutters from her mother and mother-in-law. Through the years she collected many different cookie cutters, for all different seasons and interests.

Donna passed away on Friday, April 18, 2025, at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, at the age of 76 years. Blessed be her memory.

Donna is survived by her:
Husband, Orlin Sylvester of Gaylord, MN;
Son, Aaron Sylvester of Winsted, MN;
Puppy, Lexie and her grand pups, Penny and Freddie;
Sister, Mavis Wagner of Brownton, MN;
Brothers, Eugene Voigt and his wife, Deborah of WI, Myron Voigt and his wife, Darlene of MI;
Many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

Donna was preceded in death by her Parents, Elroy and Gladys Voigt; Brothers-in-law, Darwin Wagner and Delbert Sylvester; Father-in-law and Mother-in-law, Raymond and Olga Sylvester.