Donna M. Koeck, 81, of Miller, passed away Friday, March 25, 2022, at the Good Samaritan Society in Miller.

Funeral Mass will be 10:30 a.m., Thursday, March 31, 2022, at St. Ann’s Catholic Church, Miller, with Father Paul Josten, celebrant.  Burial will follow at St. Ann’s Cemetery, Miller.  Visitation will begin at 6:00 p.m., followed by a 6:30 p.m. rosary and 7:00 p.m. wake, Wednesday, March 30, 2022, at St. Ann’s Church, Miller.

Donna was born January 15, 1941, at Hand County Memorial Hospital in Miller, SD, to Raymond and Theresa (Manning) Peck.  She was born premature with no available incubator, so her father helped build one to keep her alive.  Donna was very fortunate that Mrs. Lucille Gibson (Highmore) had just delivered her own baby and provided breast milk to help small Donna grow.  When Donna finally left the hospital, they took her home in a shoe box and fed her with an eye dropper.

Donna grew up on a couple different farms south of Ree Heights.  She attended country school through the eighth grade.  During high school, she and her classmate Joyce Rogers boarded in town during the week with Ethel and Joe Blaseg of Ree Heights. While in high school, Donna was part of a very successful girls’ basketball team.  She played all four years and never lost a game.  As one of the guards, she and her teammates worked hard as this had been before Title IX, which gave women fair rights in sports.

Following graduation, Donna went to work.  She worked at the Silver Grill in Miller, the South Dakota State Capital in the Highway Department in Pierre, First National Bank, Ziegler Motor Co., and Cal Fay Fashions.  Her most notable jobs were being farm wife and a mother.

Donna met Gayle Koeck at a dance in Ree Heights and they married June 8^th, 1967, in Stephan Catholic Church.  Gayle told their kids that he was in the second grade when he heard about a premature baby being born and dreamed, he would end up marrying her.

Farm life kept Donna busy with laying hens which meant many eggs to pick, wash, box and sell.  Every year, she would get 100 baby chicks to raise and butcher.  Along with the animals, Donna would can vegetables and render lard for daily cooking.  Through all of that, she had six children to raise as well: Patsy Rae, Terry John, Mary Ann, Carol Marie, Michael David, and Daniel Ray.  Donna took great pride in raising her family and supporting the kids in all their activities.

Donna is survived by her six children: Patsy (Bob) LeGrand, St. Lawrence, Terry, Phoenix,  Mary (Daryl) Mason, Watertown, Carol Otto, Michael and Daniel, all of Miller;  eleven grandchildren: Misty Manning, Beau LeGrand, Courtney and Derek Mason, Emily, Ashlyn, and Dylan Otto, Kassidy Dyer, Alicen, Greyson, and Jocelyn Koeck;  five great grandchildren: Chasity Selting, Kylie Johnson, Carlie Selting, Bonnie and Knox LeGrand;  one great great grandchild, Renleigh Richards; sister-in-law: Colleen Evans Koeck, Miller, and Shirley Maile Peck, St. Lawrence; brothers: Jack (Karen) Peck of Huron, Joe (Shirley) Peck, Mesa, AZ; brothers-in-law: R.L. Wilson, Padvcah, KY; aunts: Ellen Manning Bowden, and Janice Bertsch Manning, and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents: Ray and Theresa Peck; her husband, Gayle Koeck; brother, James Peck; and sister-in-law, LaJean (Christiansen) Peck.

Reck Funeral Home of Miller has been entrusted with Donna’s arrangements.

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