Donna Mae Welka

Donna Mae (Wolfe) Welka, age 80, of Belle Valley, passed away at Manchester Commons on Saturday, December 13, 2025. Born in Erie on May 17, 1945, she was the daughter of the late John and Helen (Puscher) Wolfe.
Donna was a certified nurse's aide for the Sisters of Mercy. She was a member of Mount Carmel Parish, a volunteer for the Belle Valley Fire Department Auxiliary, and devoted Navy wife. She enjoyed cooking, gardening, and camping. Most of all, she enjoyed being Nana to all of her grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband of 59 years, James J. Welka in January of this year.
She is survived by three children, Karen R. Lentz and her husband Brian, Colleen A. Callahan and her husband Regis, and John H. Welka and his wife Tiffini, all of Erie; grandchildren, Jeramy, Jessica, Lucas, Jacob, Noah, and Matthew; great grandchildren, Winnie, and Theodora; one brother, Harry Welka and his wife Susan; numerous nieces and nephews; and her lifelong best friend, Sheryl Umpleby.
Friends are invited to call at Brugger Funeral Homes & Crematory, Pine Avenue Branch, 845 E. 38th Street, on Saturday from 11 a.m. until the time of a funeral service there at 1 p.m. Burial will follow in Wintergreen Gorge Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to AseraCare Hospice, 1600 Peninsula Drive, Erie, PA 16505, or Manchester Commons, 6351 West Lake Road, Erie, PA 16505.