Hedwig Donnell

Hedwig Heidi Wenz Donnell, 89, of the Zionsville Community near Brenham, passed away September 26, 2011 at College Station Medical Center, after a courageous battle with cancer.

Mrs. Donnell was born February 16, 1922 in Mutschelbach, Germany to Alfons and Hermine Stucky Wenz. She attended school and lived in the village of Sollingen, Germany before coming to Texas in 1959. She married Robert Lee Donnell in Kitzingen, Germany on November 13, 1959. Mrs. Donnell lived on the military base in Fort Hood, Texas before her husband retired from the Army in 1962. They then made their home in Zionsville.

She worked at the Brenham State School, Sweetbriar Nursing Home, and the Brenham Rest Home. She also provided private home health care to several persons in this area. Mrs. Donnell was retired from the Brenham Independent School District, where she worked for many years at the Brenham Junior High School. She loved her job and enjoyed the students and her many co-workers, who became her good friends over the years.

Mrs. Donnell was an active member of Zion Lutheran Church of Zionsville, and attended church there regularly. She was also a member of the Mary Martha Circle Group. She enjoyed cooking, gardening, plants, and cattle. Mrs. Donnell was a wonderful and devoted mother and wife, and was loved by the many relatives, friends, and neighbors who came into her life. She will be dearly missed.

Survivors include her daughter, Dr. Patricia Ann Donnell of Brenham; sister, Lotte Rude of Germany; sister-in-law, Avyce Donnell of Houston; brothers and their spouses, Kurt and Renate Wenz, Alfons and Waltraud Wenz, and Sigmund and Ursula Wenz, all of Germany; nephews: Peter, Sigmund, Gunther, Armin, Stefan, and Andreas Wenz, Gerhard Rude, Jr. all of Germany, Dr. Glenn Allan Stahl of Knoxville, Tennessee, and Richard Donnell of Houston; nieces: Martina Brenk, Rebecca, Sigrun, and Petra Wenz, all of Germany, Jerrie Stahl of Huntsville, Arkansas, as well as numerous other relatives in Germany. Preceding Heidi in death on December 2, 2008 was her loving husband of 50 years, Robert Lee Donnell; parents, Alfons and Hermine Stucky Wenz; father-in-law and mother-in-law, Alfred Henry and Lettie Ann Davis Donnell; one brother and sister-in-law, Herman and Hildegard Wenz; two sisters and brothers-in-law, Hilde and Curt Zwaans and Gerlinde and Martin Brenk; brothers-in-law, Edward and Louis Donnell, Allan Stahl and Gerhard Rude; and sisters-in-law, Helen Stahl and Geraldine Critz.

Funeral services for Hedwig Heidi Wenz Donnell will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, October 1, 2011 at Zion Lutheran Church of Zionsville, with Pastor Virgil Pecht officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.

Visitation will take place Friday evening from 6 until 8 p.m. at Memorial Oaks Chapel. Serving as pallbearers are Gary Wagner, Erwin Emshoff, Kweyn Emshoff, Dean Winkelmann, Allyne Emshoff, and Curtis Buck.

Memorial contributions may be directed to the Zion Lutheran Church Cemetery Fund. Funeral arrangements for Hedwig Heidi Wenz Donnell are entrusted to Memorial Oaks Chapel, 1306 W. Main, Brenham.