I know a lot of you hail from Texas, and those who do have probably met a wonderful woman named Donna Zipfel. Donna spent every possible moment at faire and she made a lot of friends over the years. A few years back, Donna moved from Texas to Colorado with her husband, Jeff.
I met Donna online through my eBay auctions, back when I was selling on eBay. She and I became fast friends, talking on the phone when we had the time and sending emails back and forth. We talked about costuming, faire, our families and spent a lot of time laughing. We've lost touch over the last year or so, but every now and then we drop each other a line to update on life's events.
This morning I received an email from Donna's husband, letting me know that Donna passed away on November 6.
Here is what Jeff wrote:
For those of you who may not know, Donna Preito Alday Zipfel passed away in her sleep at 7:30 November 6th 2007. Donna finally succumbed to a illness known as CJD. We figure it was going on since about May of this year. We did not Know until september what was really going on. Donna's funeral mass is to be held on Friday November 20th at 2:00 at Saint John The Baptist Catholic Church, in Longmont Colorado. We are asking people to not send flowers. Donna wished to be cremated. We are asking that in the place of flowers that you would donate to Donna's memorial fund in care of Alhberg Funeral Chapel and Crematory. There address is 326 Terry Street Longmont, Colorado 80501, their phone number is 303-776-2313. There is a full obituary Running on there website at www.ahlbergfuneralchapel.com . I would ask that all of you pass this on to any on or any list who would like to know.
Our thoughts go out to Donna's family and to the faire communities to which she belonged. Donna was an amazing woman and to know her was to adore her. She will be deeply missed.