PEORIA - Donna Currier, 91, of Peoria, formerly of Toulon, passed away Feb. 21, 2022 at OSF Hospital in Peoria surrounded by her loving children.

Funeral services were at 1 p.m. on Feb. 26 at Elmira United Presbyterian Church with Rev. Art Blegen officiating. Visitation was from 11 a.m. until service time. Burial was at Toulon Municipal Cemetery. Wasmer Funeral Home is privileged to assist the family.

Pallbearers were grandsons, Douglas Milburn, Logan Currier, Reuben Currier, Nolan Jenkins, John Jenkins, Addison Ryan, and Clayton Ryan.

Donna was born Sept. 13, 1930 in Kewanee to William Leonard and Grace Irene (Harvey) Moore. She married Roland Frederick Currier in Kewanee at the First Presbyterian Church on June 12, 1949. He preceded her in death on July 17, 1987.

Survivors include her children, Anita (Roger) Milburn of Peoria, Lucinda (Tom) Milburn of Kewanee, Preston (Angie) Currier of Kewanee, Gretchen (Mike) Main of Altona, Sally (Bill) Corrigan of Mendota and Jeanne (Carl) Ryan of Wyoming, Ill.; 17 grandchildren, Douglas (Jana Zollinger) Milburn of Kalamazoo, Mich., Suzanne Milburn of Tacoma, Wash., Rhonda (Justin Ahlman) Milburn of Peoria, Bridget (Colton, Nora, Ava) Anderson of Chillicothe, Natalie Milburn, Kansas City, Mo., Katy (Chris, Wyatt, Kaden) Boyd of Mt. Airy, Md., Logan (Valerie, Presleigh, Asa) Currier of Galva, Reuben (Carissa, Clyde, Milo, Elsie) Currier of Toulon, Maureen Currier of Victoria, Jacqueline (Drew) Clark of Chicago, Jenna (Joe and Anna) Tolley of Avon, Nolan Jenkins of Mendota, John (Savannah Carroll) Jenkins of Grundy Center, Iowa, Julie (Nick Fisher) Jenkins of Fraser, Colo., Addison (Sydney, Hayden, Hudson) Ryan of Wyoming, Ill., Justine (Jim Code) Ryan of Chicago, and Clayton (Caitlyn and Warner) Ryan of Wyoming, Ill.; three step grandchildren, Billy (Missy, Quinn) Corrigan, Valerie (Shea, Brogan) Kreiser, and Vanessa (Herb) Goslin with two more great grandbabies and one step great-grandbaby on the way; and her special friend of many, many years, Harold McMahon of Kewanee.

She was preceded in death by her parents; an infant sister, Elaine Moore and sister, Gwendolyn (Moore) Krause of Kewanee; and by her beloved husband, Roland.

Just a few of the things she and Roland enjoyed together were dinners out, golfing and winter trips to Texas over the years. Up until this time, she was a devoted farm wife and mother who worked hard each and every day for her family. She helped with the livestock, the farming and, of course, her daily duties including cooking, cleaning and taking care of their six children. She was an avid seamstress, making the majority of the clothing for her children. She loved design and colors and would create beautiful skirts and dresses for her daughters. She was also wonderful at creating a beautiful home; interior design was a passion of hers that she shared with her husband. All of this was in addition to her being a wonderful cook and baker. She grew up during the Great Depression and with that, she learned to be creative, conservative with money and became a very astute businesswoman. When she married Roland, life was not easy at first, however, they had plans to create a great life for their family and she knew it would only get better. They bought farmland and established the Currier Family Farms, adding land and livestock to it as the years passed by, only to have their marriage cut short by tragedy and the death of Roland. At this point, Donna had to reinvent herself. She was a determined, fierce woman who held onto the family farm and expanded it over the years. She took up golf and yoga and expanded her love of sewing into the world of quilting, making many brilliantly colored quilts, some of her own design, gifting them to family over the years. She worked in the business sector for many years after her husband’s death while her son ran the farming operation. She graduated from Kewanee High School in 1948 and went on to attend Brown Business School and Black Hawk College, thus furthering her knowledge of the business world. She was very passionate about learning, even up until the day she died. Just days prior she was saying that she needed something new to learn. One thing that you could always hear her saying to her family was, “You can never stop learning. You must keep your mind active.”

In addition to schooling, she was a 4-H Leader, a member of the Stark County Homemakers Extension, Toulon PTA, Business Professional Women, member of several quilting clubs (Stark County Quilters, Neponset Quilters Club, Prairie Queen Quilters of Bishop Hill, Covered Bridge Quilt Guild of Princeton & Gems of the Prairie Quilters of Peoria) and was an Elder and lifelong member of the Elmira United Presbyterian Church. She was also instrumental in putting on a quilt show at Courtyard Estates in Galva. In addition, she tutored children and went so far as making a high school graduation dress for a girl who had nothing to wear. She was generous in many ways to many, many people behind the scenes. As a child, she had a beloved horse named Penny that she enjoyed riding. She lived a very full live, constantly adapting, changing and pivoting to meet the demands of life with grace and dignity. She will be forever missed by all who knew her. She was an inspiration to many young women, especially her granddaughters who admired her perseverance and independence. She was brilliant.

Memorials may be directed to Elmira United Presbyterian Church or the donor’s choice. Condolences may be left at wasmerfuneralhome.com.