Donna Schumann

Died Oct 11, 2018 in Milwaukee, WI. Donna was a Portage resident since 1957 until she and her husband Ed moved to the Fountains at Bronson Place in Kalamazoo in Jan, 2007. Ed died in 2009. Donna moved to Eastcastle Place in Milwaukee, WI in 2014. She was born in Detroit on May 28, 1926. Her parents were Frank D. Houck of Saginaw, MI and Edla C. (Johnson) Houck of Ironwood, MI. Her brother, Donald, died in 2006. A 1950 MS graduate of the Univ of Michigan, she married Ed in Ann Arbor in 1947 and they moved to Cincinnati, OH in 1950 where her children were born. After they moved to Portage, she taught in the Biological Sciences Department at Western Michigan University (WMU) from 1959 until she retired as associate professor emerita in 1985. As a member of the Kalamazoo and Landscapers Garden Clubs she was involved in garden club activities at the local, state and national levels. During that time she wrote many gardening articles for local and national garden club publications and co-authored "Living With Plants," a textbook on gardening and related topics. After retirement she served as a horticulture instructor for the National Garden Club. She served on the boards of the Michigan Garden Club, Michigan Botanical Club, Kalamazoo Nature Center, and Kalamazoo in Bloom. Surviving are her sons Edward of Merritt Island, FL and Frederick (Fritz) of Portage, MI, daughter Gail Schumann and her husband Michael Switzenbaum of Whitefish Bay, WI, granddaughter Esther McGriff and her husband Ben and grandson Sam of Waukesha, WI, and several nieces and nephews. In accordance with her wishes, cremation has taken place and there will be no visitation. Memorials would be appreciated to Michigan Botanical Club Foundation, Michigan Garden Clubs, Inc., Kalamazoo Nature Center, Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy, or the Department of Biological Sciences at WMU for college scholarships.