Sheila Ann Donaldson

Sheila Ann Donaldson was born in Birmingham, England, on September 12, 1935, to William Henry Stokes and Beatrice May Tuffin Stokes; Sheila would be an only child.  World War II dominated Sheila’s childhood years. From 1939 until the war was over, she lived with her grandmother. Her father was a Regimental Sergeant Major at Dunkirk, and her Mum worked in a war factory. She only saw her mother on Sunday and finally met her father at the age of eleven. Sheila attended the Oratory Catholic Girls School from the age of five until fifteen. She was a good student and qualified to test for higher education. However, it would not be so. Her family could not afford it.  At the age of fifteen, her first job would be in a sewing factory, and she also had a paper route.  She would work at the cinema in her teens and then work at a Doctor Chemist’s Shop at the age of eighteen.

Sheila while visiting Oxford with a girlfriend, at age nineteen, met Joe at a pub.  He offered to buy her a drink and she turned him down. Later her friend would give Sheila’s address to Joe. Joe was from Birmingham, Alabama, and in the Air Force on assignment and stationed in England for three months before returning home to the United States and retiring from the Air Force.  They would write to each other constantly, get engaged via mail, and in 1956 at the age of twenty-one, with her father’s permission, Sheila would travel to the United States to marry Joe.  They would live in Vance, Alabama, in a house Joe’s Father Buford Donaldson had built.  On November 16, 1956, Sheila and Joe would marry at Forest Lake Methodist Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, with Joe’s family to witness whom she loved.  Joe’s Mother, Seba Lee Donaldson, made Sheila’s dress. Sheila and Joe would soon move to Inglewood, California, for Joe to attend Engineering school, then work for Douglas Aircraft. Sheila would go on to get her United States Citizenship. On the American Immigrant Wall of Honor at Ellis Island, where she entered the United States in 1956, Sheila’s name appears. In 1958 and 1961 Sheila and Joe would welcome daughters Holley Ann and Sheri Lee while living in Inglewood and  then San Pedro, California.  They would move again to Fountain Valley, California to raise their daughters and involved them in gymnastics.   After retiring from Douglas Aircraft Joe and Sheila would go on to own and operate The Cathy Rigby Gymnastic Academy for ten years.  

After retirement Sheila and Joe would move to Temecula, California, build a beautiful home in Glen Oak Hills near the wine country and travel the world. In 2000, Joe and Sheila would move to The Oasis in Menifee, California where they would meet many great friends. 

Sheila was a long-time member of the Red Hatters and started the Tea-Sippers British Club at the Oasis community, where she lived for twenty-one years. The club still goes on today with British neighbors in the Oasis.   She was an avid reader, loved music and dance, lemon desserts with a good cuppa tea, family reunions and traveling the world with Joe, daughters and granddaughters with vacations to England.

Sheila was a great Wife, Mother, Grandmother, and Great-Grandmother and loved spending time with her family.  Sheila leaves behind her husband of nearly 65 years, Joseph Daniel Donaldson; two daughters Holley Ann Graham (Robert Graham) and Sheri Lee Rutherford (Stephen Rutherford); four grandchildren Jamie Lee Swets, Rachael Lee Nash (Byron Hoch), Ashley Ann Guy (David Guy), and Ryan Joseph Leonard Nash; and four great-grandchildren Ella Lee Swets, Isla Lyn Swets, Lucas John Guy, and Shelby Lee Guy.

Sheila passed away in Hemet, California, at the lovely Christmas Cottage on May 30, 2021.  Her family and friends will miss her dearly.

The immediate family will attend a private memorial service at Evans Brown Sun City Chapel.  Interment will  take  place  at  Riverside   National   Cemetery.    In  lieu  of  flowers, the family suggests donations in  Sheila  Ann Donaldson’s name to the Alzheimer’s Association.  www.alz.org

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Sheila Ann Donaldson, please visit our floral store.