Luella "Lu" Donald

(July 20, 1923 – May 16, 2020)

Luella Anna Bertina Rice Donald (96), a resident of Annapolis since 1944, died peacefully on May 16, 2020 at Anne Arundel Medical Center. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and good friend to many. Lu was born on July 20, 1923 in Maple Plain, Minnesota, to James and Anna Bertina Olson Rice. The youngest of six children (Harold, Steve, Charles, Fern, and James), Lu graduated from South High School in Minneapolis and joined the Women’s Army Air Corps in early 1944. Service duty brought her to Annapolis, where she met and married the love of her life, John Donald, who died in August 2017. The couple had celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary on October 15, 2016. Lu worked at the old Experimental Station, then at the Navy Post Graduate School when it was in Annapolis, and finally at the Naval Academy’s Supply Department.

She was a member of the Calvary United Methodist Church in Annapolis for 65 years, having been married in the church’s parsonage when it was located on State Circle. Lu was a member of Beta Sigma Phi, the international sorority, and a member of the Anne Arundel Medical Center Auxiliary, serving as a volunteer at the hospital for over 33 years. She was also active in several local benevolent organizations. Active and athletic, Lu was a very keen golfer and bowler, being a Club Champion of the Women’s Nine-Hole Group at the Naval Academy Golf Course. She and John traveled a great deal, usually taking their golf clubs and playing courses in North America and Great Britain.

In addition to her husband, parents and siblings, she was pre-deceased by her daughter, Jackie Cogar, in 2008.

Lu is survived by her daughter, Janis Hosmer and her husband, Larry, and her son-in-law, Bill Cogar. She is also survived by her cherished grandchildren: Jamie Persels (Tony Gay), Jenifer Batchelder (Chuck), Joel Persels (Allison), Andrew Hosmer, John Hosmer, and Jessica Hosmer. Also surviving are six great-grandchildren: Ashley, Casey, Chad and Wyatt Cox; Jacob and Payton Batchelder; and Jack Henry and Hattie Luella Persels. Other close family members include in-laws Paul Donald (Anne) and family, Geri Donald and family, Esther Robinson (Bob) and family, and nephew, Jim Eastman and family.

Friends are invited for a visitation at John M. Taylor Funeral Home, 147 Duke of Gloucester Street, Annapolis, on Thursday, 11 June from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m., and from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Please note that the present pandemic restrictions will be in place concerning the wearing of masks and practicing social distancing. Burial will be private, alongside her husband in the Maryland Veterans Cemetery in Crownsville.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Lu’s memory to the Alzheimer’s Association, SPCA or a charity of choice.