Donna Mae Tyburec

Donna Tyburec, 78, of Winner, SD passed away on Thursday, October 24, 2024 at the Winner Regional Healthcare Facility in Winner, SD. Funeral will be held on Wednesday, October 30, 2024 at 10:30AM at the First Baptist Church in Winner, SD. Burial will follow in the Winner City Cemetery. A visitation will be held on Tuesday, October 29, 2024 from 6-7:00PM at the First Baptist Church in Winner, SD with a prayer service beginning at 7:00PM.
Donna Mae Abbey was born in Winner, SD to Raymond and Rhoda (Storrud) Abbey. Donna was one of seven children and a twin. Donna was raised on the family farm near Witten. Being raised on a farm Donna grew up milking cows, helping her mother with gardening, and was where the lifetime love of horses would come from. She and her siblings almost lived on horseback. Donna attended the South Curlew school in Witten. School activities would include basketball and 4H. She attended her freshman year of high school in Winner and then changed school and would graduate as a Witten Wild Cat in 1964.
Donna worked at the Westside Café, until she married Mike Hein and to this union were born Janet, Patrick, and Brett. During this time she lived in California and Washington. Eventually Donna moved back to South Dakota. After she moved back Donna would meet Frank Tyburec and they married on June 15th, 1979. To this union one son John was born.
Donna's strong work ethic was passed down from her folks and she would keep that work ethic as she held multiple jobs throughout her life. She packed roofing shingles, worked at the Winner Hospital, Outlaw Trading Post, Pamida, and Shopko. Donna enjoyed talking to customers and one of the things she missed most after retiring was getting to talk to so many people that she knew.
Donna was a member of both the VFW and the American Legion Auxiliary for many years and anytime a parade event would be approaching she and her twin sister Diane could often be found working on floats together.
She had a talent and love for drawing and painting. The pastime of quilting would be passed on by her mother. She enjoyed getting together with her sisters and working on or talking about quilts. The ideas for ones they wanted to do would often outweigh the amount of time they had to work on these ideas though, Donna loved to work on family genealogy and learning about where everyone had come from. She would often tell people that she wasn't good with names and couldn't remember them, but then proceed to give a full blown account of someone's family history. Her love of horses was made apparent by the fact that she would watch rodeos on TV as often as she could.
Donna loved her family. She saved cards, letters, newspaper articles, announcements and just about any piece of mail she received that came from or mentioned someone in her family. Anytime she and her siblings would get together it was always fun to hear different sides of the same story, such as who was actually at fault during moments of mischief and who was the one who was most likely to get in trouble. Like any proud grandmother she loved to get pictures and show them off to anyone she could. She could almost always be counted on to send a birthday card or present to her grandkids and great-grandkids. Even when Donna was taken to the hospital her love and caring for her family showed. Despite being in pain and having her own worries she worried more about her family and was afraid that she was disturbing them. She even told her son-in-law that his birthday present was on the counter at her house and she had been meaning to get it to him.
Donna is survived by her children: Janet (Dan) Cahoy, Patrick Hein, Brett (Jules) Hein, John Tyburec; Siblings: Rae (Joseph) Tyburec, Gregory, SD, Mike (Renee) Abbey, Hudson, Wy, Linda (Allen) Devish, Winner, SD, Susan (Nick) Frank, Valentine, NE, brother-in-law Neil Frank Jr., and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins, family and friends.
Donna was proceeded in death by her husband Frank Tyburec, parents Raymond and Rhoda Abbey, sisters; Dianna Frank and Barbara Hespe, brothers-in-law Ron Hespe, Stan Tyburec and granddaughter Shauna Pravecek.