Elizabeth D. Donnelly

Donnelly, Elizabeth D. age 93 of Plymouth, December 2, 2004. Visitation Monday 2-5 and 6-9 PM at Vermeulen Funeral Home, 46401 West Ann Arbor Road, Plymouth (between Sheldon and Beck Roads.) In state Tuesday 10 AM until funeral mass 10:30 AM at Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church, 47650 North Territorial, Plymouth (at Beck Road.) Interment at Eastlawn Memorial Gardens in Okemos. She was preceded in death by her husband of 39 years, Mac John Donnelly, Sr. Dear mother of Thomas of Canton; Brian (Ruthann) of Williamsburg; Gail Drouillard of Williamston; Kathleen Martin of Troy; Mary (Hal) Smith of Overland Park, KS; Elizabeth D.(Richard) Barker of Plymouth; and the late Mac Jr. (Marjorie Thornton.) Dear sister of Mrs. Owen J. Cleary-Mangas; and the late Catherine and Alfred. She also is survived by 19 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren. Elizabeth was born in Bay City, Michigan the second child of Catherine and Alfred DeWaele. She grew up there with her sisters Marie and Katie, and her brother Alfred. Together they attended St. James School through the 12th grade. WWI started when she was three years old. She remembered the sailor dress she loved and the soldiers coming home from the war. She enjoyed a wonderful childhood surrounded by cousins and friends. After visiting her grandmother, she often brought home chickens, ducks and even a lamb on the trolley. In high school she performed in plays, played the piano and tennis, rode horseback and ice skated. She swam in Saginaw Bay while working at her Aunt's tea room in the summer. She witnessed the first plane to land in Bay City. The whole town went outside of town to an open field where a mail plane came in for a landing. When her father taught her to drive, he stayed on the sidewalk and shouted directions to her as she haltingly drove down Van Buren Street. After two years at Bay City Community College, she attended Michigan State Normal College (later renamed Eastern Michigan University) where she earned her teaching degree. She taught school in Plymouth and Trenton. She traveled in the summers to Mexico, England, Ireland and Continental Europe. After a "whirlwind courtship of nine years," her husband used to say, he finally asked her to marry him. On December 26, 1940 Mac John Donnelly and Elizabeth Ann DeWaele were married. She changed from classroom teacher to loving mother. Over the next eleven years, 7 active children were born; Mac Jr, Gail, Kathleen, Mary, Thomas, Brian and Elizabeth. Then Elizabeth returned to teaching. Over her thirty year career she taught most of the elementary grades, Spanish and creative writing at a women's prison. She was active in education, becoming the chariman of the Department of Classroom Teachers for the State of Michigan. She was a charter member of Delta Kappa Gamma, a professional teacher's sorority, and an active member of Plymouth's Business and Professional Women's Club. She somehow found time to write to her grown children once a week after they left home. On June 16, 1977, Mac and Elizabeth lost their oldest son, Police Officer Mac J. Donnelly, Jr. He was shot and killed in a bank hold-up in Lansing. This, and the loss of her husband Mac Sr in 1980 were her two biggest challenges. She taught her family by example about courage, and the need to go on when life takes away the ones you love. The young woman from Bay City who saw the first plane land there, later witnessed the space flights to the moon and beyond. She had a love of science, weather, geology, foreighn languages and world geography. She grew up through two World Wars, the Great Depression, the advent of the automobile, gas and then electric lights, air and space travel. In addition to being proud of her 7 children, 19 grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren, Elizabeth was most proud of piloting a plane for the first time at 79 years old. We love you, Mom, Grandma and Great-grandma. God speed. Memorial contributions may be made to MiCops, P.O. Box 928, Suttons Bay, MI 49682; or to Arbor Hospice, 2366 Oak Valley Drive, Ann Arbor MI 48103-8944. To leave an online message of condolence for the family, click on the Online Condolences link on this page.