Donna Joann (Hixson) McBRIDE, 75, died Friday, February 13, 2009, from complications of a heart attack and stroke. Born 1 August 1933 in Toulon, IL, she has resided in Austin, Texas, since 1959. Donna was the eldest of four children of Marvin Emery and Ellen (Olivier) Hixson. By the time she entered grade school the family lived in a one-room shack heated by a pot-bellied wood stove in Barstow, IL, on the banks of Rock River. During spring thaws the shack would be surrounded by floodwater and relatives would have to evacuate Donna's family by boat. By third grade the family moved to Colona, IL, where the Hixson family lived for decades. Their house, built entirely by Donna's parents, was 100 feet from the CRIP Railroad tracks. Donna graduated from Augustana College in Rock Island, IL, with a degree in Speech Pathology-the first member of her parent's families to attend college. During her last five semesters at Augustana, Donna was working 35 hours a week while carrying a 15-hour course load. Donna and her sister, Janet (Dailing), two years younger than Donna, were inseparable through most of their school years. Both enjoyed acting in school plays and singing in glee club and church choirs. Donna was sixteen when her brother (Jim) and sister (Jody), twins, were born, and she and Janet cared for the twins while their mother was hospitalized for many months following the twin's birth. Donna worked as a speech therapist in Orion, IL, Baltimore, MD, and Austin, TX, before starting a family. On 10 June 1956 in Colona, Donna married Earle Francis McBride, one of her college classmates, who taught geology at the University of Texas at Austin until his recent retirement. After the birth of daughters Deborah and Suzanne, Donna combined the roles of full-time homemaker and volunteer in the community and her daughter's schools and also held various part-time jobs. She served as the first Volunteer Coordinator for her daughters' elementary school and spent many years as a Girl Scout troop leader and in other positions in scouting. She served as fundraising chairperson in various organizations over the years. Donna was involved in a home-based health products business, was a founding member of the Austin Awareness Institute, and a board member of the Austin Seth Center. She taught herself to crochet and needlepoint, learned how to make ceramics and throw pots on a wheel, make stained-glass window hangings, and designed and constructed clothing for her family. Donna was an active party in the design of the home where she lived for 43 years. She also enjoyed playing the piano at home, singing in the Austin Civic Chorus, and bowling a decade or more with the University Women's Bowling League. Some of her artistic genes were passed onto her daughters: Suzanne McBride is a full-time artist in Wimberley, Texas; Deborah (McBride) Sweatman is a full-time mother in Cedar Creek, Texas, who writes science fiction short stories. Donna recently became a founding member of the Clearview Sudbury School in Austin. Building on a long-time interest in family history that began in the 1960s, Donna began compiling and writing her family history about 15 years ago. She wrote books totaling more than 1000 pages on the Hixson, Olivier, Darling and Rood families. Prior to a stroke in 2002 that curtailed her travel, she enjoyed visiting courthouses to search for family data in dark, dusty basements. She also enjoyed accompanying Earle on travels to Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and Iceland to attend geologic conferences or do geologic field work. She and her daughters particularly enjoyed a 5-month stay in Perugia, Italy, in 1975, when Earle served as a visiting professor at the university there. Donna enjoyed international travel because it exposed her to many different cultures, and made her more tolerant of diverse cultures, lifestyles, and ideas. Survivors include her daughters: Deborah Sweatman (Carl), Cedar Creek, TX; Suzanne McBride, Wimberly, TX; sisters: Janet "Jan" Dailing (Bill), Andalusia; Joline "Jody" McClain (Chris), Dahinda, IL; brother, James "Jim" Hixson (Jackie), Silvis; grandchildren: John, Shaun, Jennifer, and Samantha Sweatman, Cedar Creek, TX; and many nieces, nephews, and friends, all of whom loved her very much and will cherish her memory. Memorials may be made to a charity of one's choice. A remembrance gathering will be held Saturday, February 28 from 10:30 to 11:30 am at the Van Hoe Funeral Home, 1500 Sixth Street, East Moline.