Donna Joyce Gunnoe

Donna Joyce Gunnoe, 73, passed away peacefully on November 25, 2020. She was born on August 10, 1947 in Pocahontas County, West Virginia to Helen and Sanford Sexton. She met Orvis Donald Gunnoe in Dayton, Ohio and they were married on December 9, 1967.

Donna lived her life so that those around her could better live their own. She raised each of her three children in the Nazarene church, instilling virtue and a sense of responsibility within a community. When they had children of their own, she was always available at any capacity while Beth and James were getting businesses off the ground and while Caryn was earning her nursing degree. Whether it was baking cookies, reading books, letting them beat her at dominoes or just sending a sweet text message, she had a way of making each of her seven grandchildren feel like he or she was the most important person in her life, even when they were all together. She rarely missed a game or a performance.

She set an incredibly high bar for how clean a house could be and nobody will ever bake a better pie.

West Virginia was in her bones and she loved going there as often as she was able to. Her mother, grandmothers and some of her aunts were quilters, and she picked up the habit several years ago. Although she would rarely admit perfection, her patterns and fabric choices were creative and her stitching and cuts were surgically precise. She spent thousands of hours on quilts and would present them to her family, often as one would complete a life-defining event. She was in the process of completing one of the last few quilts for close family when she was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer this past July.

She and Don most recently attended Southeast Christian Church, but meaningfully integrating herself into whichever congregation she belonged to was a lifelong pursuit. She sang beautifully and relished being a part of the choir at Hikes Point Church of the Nazarene. She loved the friends she made at each church on her path and considered them as family.

Donna retired from YUM! in 2008 as an administrative assistant, where she used the training she received from Olivet College and the English degree she earned from the University of Louisville.

Donna is survived by her loving husband of 53 years, Orvis Donald Gunnoe; children, Beth Breathitt and her children: Evan, Aaron and Paige; James Gunnoe and his wife Heather Burks and their son Calvin; Caryn Sears, her husband Mark Sears and her children: Mackenzie, Claire and Ella; her sister, Lynne Applegate and her husband Rick Applegate and her children: David and Jennifer; and dozens of cousins, nephews, nieces, and church brothers and sisters.

Because of pandemic restrictions, visitation in Kentucky will be private. A celebration of Donna's life will be held locally in August 2021, if we are safely able to do so. Visitation will be 10 am to 1 pm on Thursday, December 3, 2020 at Morgan Funeral Home, 252 Montvue Drive Lewisburg, WV 24901, with a celebration of Donna's life there at 1pm. Burial will follow in Woodland Cemetery in Renick, West Virginia.

If you would like to send flowers or cards, please send them to Newcomer Funeral Home at 235 Juneau Drive, Louisville, KY 40243. However, instead of flowers, please consider donating to the National Pancreatic Cancer Foundation in hopes that one day others may not have to experience the pain and anguish she struggled with the final few months of her life. https://www.npcf.us.

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