Donna Lynne Bowlby

Donna Lynne Bowlby
September 26, 1961 • February 3, 2026
Donna Lynne Bowlby has left the building. She held on for 64 unapologetic years, refusing to follow anyone’s script and living life on her own terms.
Donna despised Fleetwood Mac with a passion most people reserve for taxes and traffic. She was ride or die for Deadliest Catch and had an unshakeable devotion to chicken fried cantaloupe. She was a fierce advocate for the Oxford comma, because standards matter, damn it. She spent her days, including her very last one, making sure nobody (and we mean nobody) knew her next move.
Born in 1961, Donna graduated from West Morris Central High School in 1979 and then attended County College of Morris, colloquially known as “Harvard on the Highway.” Her career was a highlight reel of chaos and triumph. Her greatest professional achievement was raising her favorite son, Travis (her words). She was a die hard LAX mom, built tougher than a soccer mom and with better parties. At BCBS of NC, she got herself “promoted” to customer for the [alleged] offense of approving too many claims as an advocate for the little guy. At the YMCA of Delaware, her legend sits in ambushing people with concert tickets to shows: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Korn, you name it. You didn’t choose the concert. Donna chose it for you. At Durling Farms, her sleuthing cracked the dairy case wide open: this year’s chocolate ice cream tasted suspiciously like last season’s egg nog. Scandal. Intrigue. Hush money.
Donna threw punches in kickboxing classes and built friendships there that outlasted most marriages. She loved her dogs Haileigh and Oreo, and any other pooch she came across. She binged South Park, listened to real classic rock, and devoured anything on the History and Space channels. She made the best homemade pizza and New York style cheesecake this Earth has ever tasted. She traveled for the views (Niagara Falls, Skyline Drive through the Appalachians) and for the magic (Disney World), because if you’re going somewhere, make it count.
Left to survive without her are her husband Marc; her mother Barbara (Lakatos); her brothers Scott (wife Amanda; children Sarah Bailey and Cole); and Todd (wife Jennifer; children Shane and Caroline); her sons Ryan, Travis, Korey, and Logan; her son-in-law Brett and daughter-in-law Irina; her aunt Nancy and uncle Billy; her grandson Wyatt; and her beloved grandpuppies Xerxes and Rumpelstiltskin. She was preceded in death by her father William, her uncle Jimmy, and her cousin Kevin.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in her memory to:

St. Jude’s Research Hospital (https://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR?px=9129989&fr_id=154020&pg=personal)

or

Mid‑Atlantic Border Collie Rescue (https://mabcr.org/donate/ )


Donna listed these in her final wishes.

Donna lived loud, took no prisoners, and left this world exactly the way she came into it: causing a scene.