Donace Lorayn Childs

Country roads, take me home, to the place I belong.
                                                                  -John Denver

Obituary

Donace Childs passed away the evening of Tuesday, June 11th at the age of 85.
Donace was as unique as her name. She was a generous, quiet, introspective woman with a sarcastic humor and was always willing to help the people she loved. She was admittedly shy and more comfortable sitting back and listening than being the center of attention.
Growing up as an only child in rural Duluth, Minnesota, the closest kid she had to play with outside of school was miles away and several years younger than her, so she spent most of her alone time playing with her cats which began her life-long feline obsession. In her early teens, she and my grandparents relocated to Normandy Park, WA where she swam with her horse, Sea Breeze, in Puget Sound and rode around the dirt roads and pastures now long gone. She graduated from Highline High School in 1956 and it was during the high school senior graduation trip that she met her husband, Richard. They would visit each other during their college years attending dances and parties traveling back and forth between WSU in Spokane and CWU in Ellensburg. They soon married, started a family, and began a small family business, Childs Construction, designing and building single-family homes and doing renovation projects. Donace picked out the interior finishes, painted, and was the bookkeeper while Richard did most of the general contracting work.
Although they didn't have much disposable income, Donace tried to support and nurture her children's interests as much as she could. She was always very proud of her children's and grandchildren's accomplishments and talents. She taught them how to sew, craft, refinish furniture, tile, and bake. She was a 4-H Leader for the Federal Way Top Cats, a 4-H mom with the Rainbow Riders Horse Club, and served on the King County Fair Board. Every year she spent the summer and fall with Susan, Bryan, and Erin (her children) at the King County and Puyallup Fairs in the 4-H cat and horse barns eating Fair Scones and helping to groom cats, setting up cage decorations, and cleaning the dirt off Erin's boots before she rode into the show ring. Her son, Steven, had a deep interest in Pacific Northwest tribal culture and art and would make regalia to wear at powwows that Donace would attend with him. From there she became interested in beading jewelry as a hobby, which she excelled at, and sold her creations at street fairs when we were young. She was an all-around DIYer and could use just about any power tool to get the job done. After Richard passed away, she took a deep dive into the family's genealogy which fueled her passion for research. She was always fascinated by history and once admitted that she had wanted to be an archeologist and thought it would be fun to go volunteer on digs. She traveled the midwest visiting family and sites to gather missing information for the family tree. She also started making natural stone jewelry from items she picked up as far as New Mexico while exploring the native archeological sites and natural parks. She soon made contact with relatives in Denmark and got her passport with plans to travel outside the States, but her body started slowing down and she began to have less energy for her interests and hobbies.
In 2014, she was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. Her kids moved her and two of her cats into assisted living in July 2019 where she received excellent care. Despite her quiet, introverted nature, everyone who took the time to get to know her quickly fell in love with her. The family was with her 24/7 in the final days and she was surrounded and supported by those who loved her through the end.
While we grieve the loss of Donace, we are also relieved she has been released from her battle with Parkinson's and can now fly free wherever she may be... we hope she is traveling the ruins of the world and seeing the sights and people she never had the chance to visit.
Donace was preceded in death by her husband Richard Childs, her father Walter Peterson, mother Lorayn Keldsen-Peterson, and cousin Ellyn Keldsen-Teel. She is survived by her children Steven, Darren, Susan Gormley, Bryan, and Erin Childs; grandchildren Alexandria Infante, Jordan and Connor Gormley; great-grandchild Stella Infante; sister-in-law Elaine Childs and brother-in-law Roger Childs; and many members in the Keldsen and Gerbig family. Family and friends are welcome to post if they would like to share memories and thoughts of Donace.

-The Dash’ by Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend
He referred to the dates on the tombstone
From the beginning…to the end

He noted that first came the date of birth
And spoke the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years

For that dash represents all the time
That they spent alive on earth.
And now only those who loved them
Know what that little line is worth

For it matters not, how much we own,
The cars…the house…the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
And how we spend our dash.

So, think about this long and hard.
Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough
To consider what’s true and real
And always try to understand
The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger
And show appreciation more
And love the people in our lives
Like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect
And more often wear a smile,
Remembering this special dash
Might only last a little while

So, when your eulogy is being read
With your life’s actions to rehash…
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent YOUR dash?



-Don’t weep for me (Author unknown)

Don’t weep for me, for it was time
to slip life’s bonds and soar and climb.
Do not grieve for what is past,
for bodies are not meant to last.
Expendable, their only role
a growing medium for the soul.

Don’t store my books, don’t wear my rings
or cling to clothes or other things
of sentimental value, for
you do not need them anymore.

Browse through photos for a while,
but only if they make you smile
and call to mind how much we cared,
the things we did, the times we shared;
but do not sigh and wish them back,
or dress yourself in hopeless black,
for clouds will part and larks will rise –
the wheel must turn to make us wise.

And this is how ‘twill ever be:
I’m part of you, you’re part of me.
At every dawning’s golden flare,
each velvet nightfall, I’ll be there.

On woodland walk, by tossing sea,
some elemental part of me
will ride the wind and sing its song,
for each to each we all belong.

Your happiness will set me free;
beloved, do not weep for me.

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Final Resting Place