Donna Agnes Garvey

September 21st, 1947 - February 21st, 2019

The first child of Joan and Genaro, Donna is survived by siblings Deborah, Cynthia, Gene, Honour, Elizabeth, Robyn and Jeremiah. And all of the nieces and nephews that touched her heart along the way like Greta & Hunter; Kristen Laura, Debra, Sydney & Anthony; Alexander & Ryan and all the other nieces and nephews and cousins she played with growing up.

Donna met and married Kevin Garvey, her true soulmate. They traveled the world together making amazing memories until Kevin’s premature death.

Although Donna was shy, she was smart, kind, caring and loved to laugh out loud. Donna often spoke of her fondest childhood memories, making chocolate chip cookies with her mother Joan, outings to Jones Beach with her Grampa Dutchy, watching Nana Candreva make her famous crumb cake, and making Christmas cookies with her Aunt Jean.

Donna’s near four decades career dedication with American Airlines started as a Statistics Analyst and excelled to Ticket Agent. Her friends Evelyn (who worked with Donna) and Henry and their two girls, Karina & Kiara were also a big part of her life. She watched the girls from babysitting to graduating to new adventures in their lives.

After Kevin’s passing, Donna moved to Ft. Myers, FL to be closer to our sister Cynthia. They were inseparable and shared a bond unlike any other, working and traveling together.

Over the last decade, Donna created a new life donating her time to charities she held dear to her heart, such as “bedz for kidz,” tirelessly working behind the scenes beside her sister and brother-in-law, John Shafer. Together as a team, she helped make a difference to many young lives. Donna also totally immersed herself within the Realtor community, getting involved in all the details needed to get the job done, where she was the unnoticed heroine. If she wasn’t walking the beach with her sister Cynthia, she was driving around town with her convertible top down.

Donna is truly missed, but we carry her in our hearts because she was loved for being such an amazing person.

Services will be in N.Y. at a later date.

For those who would like to donate to “bedz for kidz” in Donna’s name / memory please visit https://www.voicesforkids.org

The following is an excerpt from Guardian Ad Litem Foundation website:

A volunteer advocate may request a warm cozy bed and bedding for a child in need of one’s own. For 20 years, Cynthia Shafer has served as a GAL volunteer advocate. In the course of her advocacy work, she recognized that caring people are sometimes willing to take in a vulnerable child, but they lack the resources to provide a bed. So in 2001, Cynthia founded the Bedz for Kidz Program on behalf of the Guardian ad Litem Program. She and her husband have driven close to 120,000 miles throughout our five-county region while delivering and assembling over 2300 beds.