Donna Treloar

Donna Mae (Bush) Treloar died October 2nd, 2019 in Amherst, Massachusetts. Born in Kalamazoo on December 3rd, 1931 to Major Arthur D. Bush and Florence Mae (Buchanan) Bush, Donna grew up in Parchment and graduated from Kalamazoo Central High School. After graduating, she worked at KVP in Parchment and at the Kalamazoo Gazette while earning her bachelor's degree and, later, a Masters of Art from Western Michigan University. She taught junior high and high school English and Spanish in the Kalamazoo Public Schools for 28 years. Dedicated to public service, Donna served on the Kalamazoo River Watershed Council, the Kalamazoo Transit Board of Directors, Kalamazoo Association of Retired School Personnel, the Kal-Haven Trail Planning Committee, Planned Parenthood of Michigan, and many other area organizations. Donna was passionate about politics and was viscerally aware of unfair biases. She was active in the Democratic Party, serving on numerous campaigns for national, state, and especially local candidates. She was a strong advocate for local businesses, which she supported with exceptional zeal. Donna volunteered for months at the Sarkozy Bakery to help keep the business open after a devastating fire in 2012. Donna was an active and passionate outdoors woman well into her later life. She hiked and camped many times on Isle Royale in Lake Superior, did trail maintenance in the White Mountains of New Hampshire for multiple seasons, went on numerous overnight canoe trips with her church group, and traveled widely, from China to Europe, Mexico, and Central America. She was an avid downhill skier into her 80s. Donna's unwavering and unconditional love was her greatest gift to her family and her many, many beloved friends. She leaves behind her devoted husband, Robert Treloar, her four children Valori Treloar, Vanessa Kehler, Yvonne Kielb, and Nathan Treloar, her children-in-law and in heart, Stan Mescon, Steven Kehler, Walter Kielb, Margaret Wiechman, and Margaret Jasinski Treloar, her 7 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild, as well as many loved extended family and friends. Please join Donna's family for a remembrance and celebration of her life at People's Church, 1758 10th St N, Kalamazoo, Michigan on November 16th at 2PM. Donations in Donna's name may be made to the Kalamazoo Nature Center or to Camp Merrie Woode through the Girls Scouts Heart of Michigan.