Donna Marie (Parsons) Zeltinger, 87, passed away peacefully at home of natural causes on July 13, 2023, surrounded by her family in Burlington, WA.
Donna was born on August 1st, 1935, in Little Falls, MN. She was the younger of two children, born to Elmer and Bertha Parsons. The family moved several times, as her father was a creamery operator and dairy inspector. Most of her younger years were spent in Little Rock and Little Falls. The family eventually moved to West Concord, MN, where she graduated from West Concord High School in 1954.
After high school, she attended the College of Medical Technology in Minneapolis, where she had a scholarship. Upon graduation, she accepted a position as a medical laboratory and x-ray technician in a small 50-bed hospital in Chamberlin, SD. It was there that she met the love of her life, Michael "Mike" Zeltinger, who was visiting a friend while on leave from the Navy. They married on April 1st, 1955, and remained together for 57 years until his passing in 2013.
Mike and Donna moved to Missoula in 1956 from South Dakota and started a family. Donna took seven years off to raise their son, Kirk, and daughter, Michelle. Donna worked for various physicians in Missoula, including Dr. Grover Hulla, Dr. Steven Wisner, and lastly, for Dr. Jesse J. Pitt as his office manager. She retired in 1997.
After living in Missoula for almost 50 years, she and Mike moved to Burlington, WA, in order to be closer to their daughter and her family. Mike and Donna often spent the winter months in Indio, CA, where they had a second home.
Donna loved to go clothes shopping, especially with her best friend, Bonnie Duncan, who preceded her in death. She also enjoyed ceramics and taking walks with Mike. While still in Missoula, Mike and Donna enjoyed playing cards (Shanghai Rummy and Pinochle) on weekends with their friends.
She is survived by her sister and brother-in-law: Janice and Robert Kohs of Lindstrom, MN; her son, Kirk of Frankfurt / Main, Germany; her daughter and son-in-law: Michelle and Tom Foggin; and her three grandchildren: Quint, Paige, and Ryan of Anacortes, WA.
