Estellee Holland Donaldson

Estellee Holland Donaldson, R.N., died on Tuesday, October 5, 2010 in Amarillo, Texas. She was born August 11, 1921, in Wetumka, Oklahoma, and was raised in Somerton, Arizona.
Estellee was baptized at the United Methodist Church in 1933, and graduated from Yuma High in 1939 and Mercy College of Nursing in San Diego, CA. in 1942. She entered the U.S. Army Nurse Corps in 1943 and served in France with the 40th Field Hospital, Ninth Air Force, and then station hospitals in England as a surgical and O.R. Nurse until 1945, having landed on Omaha Beach behind General Patton's Army on D-90. She received the American Campaign Medal with two Bronze Service Stars for the Rhineland and Northern France Campaigns. She married "Battle of Britain" pilot Edward "Teddy" Donaldson, father of her son, David Donaldson, and lived in England for many years until her divorce in 1954 when she returned to Yuma. She later married, Harry James "Cy" Leeper, father of Richard, Barbara, and William, and had her daughter, Diana. In 1959 she moved to California where she worked as a nurse until 1977, retiring from L.A. County Hospital. She was a member of California Nurses Association, Women's Aglow Fellowship, and VFW post 1820.
Estellee was preceded in death by her father, Emmett Leslie Holland; mother, Lyda Knight Holland Reese; step-father, U.V. Reese; and brother, Ralph Holland.
Estellee is survived by her brother, E.W. (Wayne) Holland and his wife, Patricia Holland of Yuma; son, David Donaldson of Victorville, CA; daughter, Diana (Leeper) Solarski and husband, William J. Solarski III; grandchildren, Will, Derek, and Richard.
A Funeral Mass will be said on Saturday, October 9, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. Arrangements are by Schooler Funeral Home, 4100 S. Georgia Amarillo, Texas 79119.
In lieu of flowers the family suggest memorials be sent to BSA Hospice.
Please sign the guestbook at www.yumasun.com/obituaries.