Donna Rae Jones

Donna Rae Jones passed away Easter Sunday, April 20th, 2025 after a battle with the debilitating disease, Alzheimer’s.

Funeral Mass will be held at 11:00am on Monday, May 12th, 2025 at St. Emily’s Catholic Church, Emily, MN. The family will greet friends one hour prior to Mass at the church on Monday. Following Mass, refreshments and a luncheon will be served at the church. Interment will be at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Cedar Rapids, IA at a later date. Arrangements are with the Koop Funeral Home in Crosby.

Donna was born on October 12th, 1939 in Cedar Rapids, IA, the daughter of Ralph and Gladys Randak. Donna led a full life energetically chasing many endeavors, from co-owning a small chain of dry cleaners, to working at a bank, being a bookkeeper at a grocery store, she was a registered mediation consultant, she ran a teen center, and later owning and running a small family resort on Ruth Lake in Emily, MN, where she spent the majority of her most “happy days”. Donna devoted herself to helping at her son’s meat market, Emily Meats, to help keep an eye on her son as she always did.

Donna served on the Emily City Council, Planning and Zoning Board, and was involved in various volunteer organizations such as the Lions Club, Red Hatters, Outing Senior’s Club, Snowbirds, Ruth Lake Association, Emily Day Committee, CCW and many, many more. Donna always stressed that she needed to make a difference, and she did in so many countless ways. She wrote the grant for the City of Emily to fund the construction of the Fire Hall and the Groomers Shed as well. Above all else, she was a devout Catholic woman who attended Mass every Sunday without fail, helping out however she could.

Donna is preceded in death by her parents, her husband William Tennis Jones and her former husband John Joseph Toms.

She is survived by Tracy (Fawn) Jones, Karen (Ed) Martin and Laura (Steve) Salters, grandchildren Kale, Cody, Lily (Dillon), Amanda (Catherine), Curt and Erica, great grandchildren Theo, Ellawin, Lincoln and Edgar.