Our lives wouldn't have been as blessed without the love and devotion of our parents. While working as a bookkeeper, Katherine Jean Mankowski met Raymond George Joerger, more commonly known as “Barney”, who farmed corn and soybeans and raised livestock. Wed on August 10, 1963 at Immaculate Conception in Spring Valley, Donna’s parents raised 2 children. Tom was the firstborn, and two years later, Donna was born. Kathy’s calm nature, dedication to her family, and love of home and her family were inherited by Donna. Donna gained Barney’s strong work ethic, tenacity, and positive outlook. Donna was also nurtured by and learned from her brother Tom. Their close-knit family stuck through thick-and-thin during circumstances and difficulties diagnosing Donna’s Spinal Muscular Atrophy. On the other hand, annual family vacations created happy and fun memories.

Rhea Frances Kiely worked at the telephone company when she met Edmund Cyril Leahy, one of 4 brothers on the Bridgeport Police Department. Married on November 14, 1959 at Sacred Heart Church, Edmund's parents instilled in him valuable traits. Rhea shared her gentle nature, devotion to prayer, storytelling, and fondness of soundtrack music; Ed, his love of Mass, humility, sense of humor, and love of baseball. Both modeled lives of generosity and devotion to family. Both families would regularly gather at their home on July 4th to enjoy the Barnum Festival Parade and a picnic. Ed would give the older cousins fireworks and say, “Go cause trouble.”

Donna was born in Illinois in the rural town of Mendota, “The World’s Greatest Little City”, recognized for its Sweet Corn Festival and the early railroads. Edmund was bred in Connecticut in the larger city of Bridgeport, “The Park City”, known for P.T. Barnum and the Frisbee. Donna spent her days on a farm; Edmund worked at beachside refreshment stands. Donna earned her Master’s in Communicative Disorders at Northern Illinois University, “Home of the Huskies.” Edmund obtained his Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction at Austin Peay State University, where the home crowd yells, “Let’s Go Peay!” Serving people with disabilities both voluntarily and vocationally has been Donna’s passion. Edmund's maternal family endeavored in special education, and Edmund has worked with persons with disabilities for over a decade.

Using the website Catholicmatch.com, Donna and Edmund began having regularly scheduled longer and longer phone calls. Instead of nightly grading papers at his elementary school, what’s-his-face was calling (shooting stars in the background). Donna’s excitement grew whenever she expected Edmund’s call. Not long after that, we both learned about our personality and value similarities. Edmund was enjoying his Fall Break, had a ticket for the Rolling Stones on 10/11/2006 at Soldier Field (Da Bears) (32 degrees with a blistering wind) in Chicago, and asked Donna if he could visit on Friday, the 13th.

As Edmund entered the foyer and hugged Donna’s mom, Kathy, while also carrying a bouquet of flowers, Donna experienced butterflies in her stomach! She was relieved he didn’t appear to be a mass murderer and was actually quite handsome! As he shared life experiences, his shyness enamored Donna even more. Donna was radiant and beautiful in Edmund’s eyes. Our 2 days flew by as we savored long conversations, looked through photo albums, visited Starved Rock State Park, and held hands. As difficult as it was, we eventually said goodbye at 1:00am Sunday morning. One of the first things Donna’s mom, Kathy, asked her was whether she thought she would see Edmund again. Without hesitation, Donna replied, “Yes, I’m pretty sure I will!”

Over the next 14 months, Edmund drove north from Clarksville, Tennessee, where he was teaching 2nd grade students to visit Donna on school breaks and during the summer. On December 19, 2008, Donna’s dad and brother helped to move Edmund to a small town about 20 miles away from where Donna lives. The closer distance allowed us to visit more often so we could learn more about each other.

Donna and Edmund discovered many similarities. Our love of music brought us together. Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, and Christmas music were common interests. Donna shared her love of Josh Groban, Adele, and The Lumineers with Edmund. Edmund opened her musical interests to the music of The Band, Little Feat, and The Chieftains. Among some of the concerts we’ve attended are Elton John, U2, The Who, Ed Sheeran, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, REO Speedwagon, Bryan Adams, Cheap Trick, John Mellencamp, Pat Benatar, Josh Groban, the Lumineers, Blue Man Group, Jim Brickman, Straight No Chaser, Celtic Woman, and The Chieftains.

Another adventure we love to do together involves nature. We’ve seen beauty at Anderson’s Japanese Gardens in Rockford, the Conservatory in Rockford, Cantigny Park in Wheaton (where we were engaged on June 2, 2024), and Rotary Park in LaSalle where we especially look forward to the Celebration of Lights during Christmastime.

Donna’s fondness for “The Notebook”, “Simon Birch”, and “A Walk to Remember” meshed with Edmund’s affection for “Casablanca”, “The French Connection”, and “The Shawshank Redemption”. The types of movies we gravitate toward include romance, drama, documentaries, musical history, and disability-themed movies. Donna opened Edmund’s mind to inspirational stories just as Edmund brought his love for children’s literature.

We know each other extremely well. The two of us can predict what the other is thinking and can finish one another’s sentences. Our mutual interests include spending each night talking with each other, playing challenging board games, shopping, and laughing together. Not only do we share one another’s interests, but also we learned about our comparable personality traits and values. Both of us strive to be humble, empathetic, fair, kind, hard-working, helpful, and service-oriented. After years of dating, we became engaged on June 2, 2024. We’re gaining new family members and are excited about our future together!