Donna Elaine Courtney (Hardinger) passed away December 27, 2025, at her home in

Vancouver, Washington, the same day as her mother 14 years prior. She was 69 years old.

She is survived by her five children and several grandchildren.

Donna loved flowers and gardening. Some of her favorites were sunflowers,

hydrangeas and lilacs. She worked as a florist for several years as well as a teacher’s aide and briefly as a park ranger in Virginia. While she always dabbled in arts and crafts, she found great joy in encouraging her children’s creativity and supported them wholeheartedly.

Donna was a fierce and strong-willed woman whose love for her late husband and children knew no bounds.

She was born in Great Falls, Montana, on October 28, 1956, to Harold and Hazel

Hardinger, the youngest of six children. She had three older sisters and two brothers. The family lived in a cramped house on a homestead ranch near the small town of Belt. Each of the children helped with farming duties on the cold and windy Montana prairie, where snowdrifts towered high above in the winter months. Her fondest memories of childhood were swimming in the creek on hot days, riding in her brother Danny’s car with her sisters and snacking on rhubarb and potatoes like they were candy until she got sick of them. She loved to sneak peas from her granddad’s garden.

Donna graduated from Belt High School in a class with fewer than 30 people. After

living with her sister in North Carolina, she returned to Montana where she met her future husband, Glen Nelson Courtney, while working as an aide at the preschool his two boys attended. She rebuffed his advances at first, but couldn’t resist a chance to ride in his 1956 Chevy Bel Air. They quickly fell in love and married in 1981. In addition to sons Garrett and Garrison from Glen’s previous marriage, the couple celebrated the births of Garand, Gwen and Greg while Glen served in the Air Force and was stationed in California and Kansas.

Many years later, the family learned of a bonus daughter named April who came searching for her biological father, Glen. Donna was quick to accept her as one of her own, too. Along with April came a couple of bonus grandchildren as well.

Glen was deployed during Operation Desert Storm and retired from military service as a captain. The family lived in Havre, Montana, for several years while Glen worked for the U.S. Border Patrol. He and Donna later moved to West Virginia, where he passed away in 2012. Years later, Donna and Greg moved to Portland, Oregon, where Gwen lived after graduating college. In recent years, she lived in Vancouver, Washington, where she enjoyed tending to her plants on the back patio of her apartment and welcomed a granddaughter in 2024. She loved getting her nails done and watching old black and white movies, especially the Wizard of Oz. She would later share her children’s love of fantasy and science fiction movies. Her favorite band growing up was The Monkees. She grew to love hard rock and alternative music she heard on the radio like Ozzy Ozborne and Tool.

Donna was a great mother, loving wife, and friend to many who were warmed by her

gentle smile, vast knowledge and surly bits of wisdom. The echoes of her love and warm embrace will be cherished for years and she will be missed by many.

A Memorial Service will be held on July 11th, at 5pm, in Belt, Montana. Location is still pending and will updated at a later time.

Donations can made to Paralyzed Veterans of America and/ or to plant a tree in memory of Donna