Donna Gaffney, 57, of Manning, died unexpectedly on Monday, September 3, 2012.
Visitation will begin at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, September 6, at Ohde Funeral Home in Manning.
Rosary by the Altar Society will be at 4 p.m., and there will be a prayer service at 7 p.m.
Mass of the Christian burial will be at 10:30 a.m. September 8 at Sacred Heart Church in Manning.
The Rev. Robert Gralapp will be celebrant, and concelebrants will be the Revs. Randy Schon and Lynn Bruch. The Lector will be Tom Loughran, and gift bearers will be Jill Valde and Alice Sporrer.
Music will be "On Eagle's Wings," "How Great Thou Art" and "Ava Maria." The vocalist will be Sherry Loughran.
Sacred Heart Choir will be accompanied by organist Pat Heithoff for "The Lord's Prayer" and "Amazing Grace."
Casket bearers will be Gene Langel, Wayne Eich, Randy Eischeid, Danny Schenkelberg, Mike Loughran, Kevin Eich, Rick Bogatz, Tim Gaffney and Mark Gaffney.
Burial will be at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Manning.

Donna Kay, daughter of Lawrence and Mildred (Eich) Sporrer, was born March 13, 1955, at Carroll. She grew up on a farm east of Manning and attended Manning schools.

After graduation in 1973 she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education with a minor in foreign language from Iowa State University in Ames. She also holds a reading endorsement from Morningside College in Sioux City.

Donna taught kindergarten through fourth grade at Early, Spencer and Sheldon before her 19 years in the Kuemper Catholic Schools in Carroll as a first-grade teacher.

Donna married Robert Gaffney on June 28, 2002, at Sacred Heart Church in Manning. They made their home in Manning where Donna enjoyed decorating and landscaping.

She was a member of Sacred Heart Parish and the Altar Society. Her church was an integral part of her life. She was a loving wife, daughter and sister and her family was very important to her. She was a great fan of ISU athletics and enjoyed watching TV, especially "Big Valley" and "West Wing."

After more than 30 years as a classroom teacher she was to begin a new adventure as a resource teacher in Kuemper Schools in the fall of 2012.

Donna is survived by her devoted husband Robert "Bob" Gaffney of Manning; mother Mildred Sporrer of Manning; seven siblings: Patricia Treinan (Richard) of Sioux City; Marilyn Tillman (Nolan) of Santa Fe, New Mexico; Alice Sporrer of Sioux City; Larry Sporrer (Gema) of New Jersey; Lynn Sporrer of Manning; Loran Sporrer of Manning and Jennifer Sporrer of New Hope in Carroll; mother-in-law Virginia Gaffney of Carroll; brothers-in-law Tim Gaffney of Key West, Florida, and Mark Gaffney of Verde, Arizona; sisters-in-law Jill Volde (Michael) of Coralville and Julie Effron of Phoenix, Arizona; aunts Sally Schenkelberg of Carroll; Kay Laughran of Breda; Dorothy Schon of Glidden and Inez Ohlinger of Carroll; uncle Vernice "Sprig" Sporrer (Evelyn) of Templeton; numerous nieces, nephews, other relatives and many former students.

Preceding her in death are her father Lawrence Sporrer; father-in-law Robert Gaffney, and brother-in-law Jerry Effron.