After a fifteen year battle with progressive dementia, Ileene Anaise Donnelly, 83, passed into a better world on Wednesday, August 28, 2024.
Ileene was born January 31, 1941 in Clay Center, Kansas, the fourth daughter of Lawrence and Anaise Mayer. Ileene’s childhood was spent in Clifton, Kansas where she graduated from Clifton High School with honors in 1959. She went on to attend Kansas State University and received her BA degree in Education in 1964. Her passion for helping others led to her first teaching job at Antioch Junior High in North Kansas City where Ileene’s compassion and foresight in seeing the struggles of students in need brought her into the emerging field of special education. She went on to receive a Master’s Degree in Special Education from Kansas University in 1968, and from there went on to teach graduate level courses at Memphis University. Upon returning to Lawrence, she embarked on a thirty-five year journey teaching English at Central Junior High where she ranged from challenging students in advanced reading to developing programs to teach struggling junior high students basic literacy.
Ileene and Jerry Donnelly were married on August 6, 1965 and the union was blessed with two beautiful and loving daughters. Jerry and Ileene called Lawrence their home for fifty-nine years of married life. Ileene was known for her dramatic style, always choosing bold colors and a warm smile to light up any engagement. When she was at home, she invested a lot of her energy into her yard and became a master gardener.
In addition to being a superb teacher, mother, and wife, Ileene was a talented and determined athlete. At the age of thirty she decided to take up the sport of tennis and after her first awkward lesson, the tennis pro suggested that she take up golf. Undeterred, Ileene found a new tennis pro and at the age of thirty-five, becoming a city and state tennis champion. A hip replacement at the age of fifty-six ended Ileene’s tennis career. So she took up golf, and with the same dedication and determination, she won numerous golf tournaments. The family basement is still packed with Ileene’s trophies.
Survivors include her daughter Tara and son-in-law Jason Voogt of Geneva, Switzerland, and her adoring grandsons Jackson, Spencer and Everett Voogt, and her husband Jerry Donnelly. Her beloved daughter, Lisa Donnelly, preceded her passing on April 7, 2017.
The family is planning a celebration of her life on a date to be announced in the future. The family suggests memorial contributions to the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence, to be sent in care of Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home, P.O. Box 1260, Lawrence, Kansas 66044. rumsey-yost.com
