Donabel Nelson Kingsbury

December 08, 1924 - May 28, 2014

Donabel Nelson Kingsbury Obituary Donabel Nelson Kingsbury passed away on May 28, 2014. Resident in Spokane and Spokane Valley since 2006, she was born December 8, 1924 in Minneapolis to Georgia and Benjamin Nelson. The family moved to Pomeroy, WA, when she was four, and a year later to Seattle. She graduated co-valedictorian from Lincoln High School. At the University of Washington she was active in service-oriented student organizations, graduating in 1946 (Phi Beta Kappa) with a degree in economics and business. Donabel married Howard G. Kingsbury on June 29, 1945. He had been discharged from the Army and enrolled at the university; Donabel found work as a secretary with American Mail Line. Upon Howard?s graduation in 1949 the couple toured in western Europe for six weeks by bicycle. They moved to northern California, where Howard held various positions with a railroad company. They had three sons. In 1961 they returned to the Puget Sound area. Donabel enjoyed being a homemaker and supported her boys? various school activities. She liked to read, sew, hike, travel, and ballroom-dance. She trained each of a series of cats who came into her life to perform small tricks. Family vacations were spent camping and hiking in parks in the western US and Canada, and later backpacking in the Washington Cascades. As the boys grew older, she took part-time work as secretary for an architect and then for a contractor. In retirement, the couple settled for several years in Vaughn, WA, and traveled the world by cruise ship. Donabel is survived by sons Dwight, Brian, and Brent; and grandsons Craig (Erica), Jeff (Erin), Kyle, and Noel. Other survivors include sister-in-law Hazel Kingsbury; nephews Larry, Wayne and Ron; their children and grandchildren; and paternal cousin Marjorie H. Nelson. At her request, there will be no services. ?It?s been a happy life!?, she summed up one day.