Donna was born on October 29, 1937, in Richmond California. When she was a young girl, the family moved around as her father Dewey was an officer in the Navy. She graduated from Phoenix High School and later moved to her Aunt's home in Newport Oregon. It was there that she met her beloved husband Don Westerberg, while on leave from the army. Over the next two years they would write each other every day and then on March 10, 1957, they were married. They made a wonderful life together in Albany Oregon and had six loving children; Tony, Nick, Sherry, Angie, Michael & John, twelve adoring grandchildren and seventeen great grandchildren.