Donna Dible

Donna Lea (Connelly) Dible, of Rexford, Kansas and Bonita Springs, Florida passed away on December 20, 2022 at her residence in Bonita Springs.

Donna was born in Rexford, Kansas on April 24, 1935, the youngest child of Chester and Martha (Claar) Connelly. She spent her childhood in Thomas and Sherman Counties, and Sunnyside, Washington, returning to Thomas County toward the end of the war in 1943. Donna was a 1953 graduate of Rexford High School.

Donna married William (Bill) Dible on July 26, 1953. They lived in Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Alabama the first three years of their marriage, while Bill served in the U. S. Army. The following three years they lived in Wichita, where Bill worked at Boeing Aircraft. They moved with their three children to Rexford in May 1959 to farm and raise their family. They added two more children to their family, and Donna would say having children was the happiest time of her life.

Donna excelled at all things domestic! She was a fantastic cook, talented seamstress, enjoyed interior decorating, landscaping her sunken flower garden, and completing crossword puzzles. Donna played the piano and taught her daughters to sing in three-part harmony for church, and other performances. She was involved with her children’s activities from piano and dance lessons, Pioneer Girls, engineering camp, sports, and numerous other events with her family.

Donna fervently read and studied the Bible and attended church at the Rexford Community Church, the Worldwide Church of God in Hays, and the United Methodist Church in Florida. She served as a Stewardess for the Rexford Community Church and sang with the Sweet Adelines in Colby. Donna worked for a short time for the NWK Educational Service Center.

She loved to travel. In the beginning it was family vacations with five kids in a station wagon, later in an RV as snowbirds in Texas, Arizona and Florida, to eventually purchasing a home in Florida. Bill and Donna also traveled to Mexico, China, and Italy.

Donna was preceded in death by her husband, Bill; parents, Chester & Martha Connelly; her brother LaVerne Connelly; sister Frances Black; nephew Mark Black and grandson, Dominic Passantino.

Donna is survived by children, Robert, Lynn (Mike) Zimmerman, Michelle (Lenny) Patmon, Susan (Gary) Pfrang and Anita (Rocky) Passantino; 11 grandchildren, Nathan (Magdalene), Drew (Amy), and Skylar Zimmerman; Lindsey (Nate) Moore, Whitney (Kile) Zerr, and Jenna (Mitch) Gatz; Derek (Jessica) Pfrang, Kehley (Charles) Marion, and Corbin Pfrang; and Alexis and Gabriella Passantino and 12 great-grandchildren, Ivan, Thane, Lydia, Emersyn, Mallory, Lennyn, Reata, Pate, Natalie, Cash, Dawson, and Quinn.

Visitation will be held at Baalmann Mortuary in Colby, on Tuesday, December 27, 2022, from 5-7:00 p.m. Funeral service will be at the Rexford Community Church on Wednesday, December 28, 2022, at 10:30 a.m. with burial to follow at the Rexford Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Rexford Community Church or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and sent in care of Baalmann Mortuary, PO Box 391, Colby, KS. For information or condolences visit www.baalmannmortuary.com