Resident in the Spotlight – Donna Seaman

While traveling the halls of St. Anne Home, hopefully you’ll have the good fortune to meet a wonderful woman, Donna Seaman.  Donna has been a resident of St. Anne Home for a little over two months and is this quarters resident in the spotlight.

Donna was born and raised in Sagamore, PA with her parents and five other siblings.  Donna would later relocate to New Kensington where she attended school at St. Joseph’s and started her long career in shoe sales.  When you ask Donna about selling shoes, she’s quick to point out that it was much more than a job, but a career that brought tremendous joy to her.  Much of that joy came from the friends that Donna made; both employees and customers alike. 

Having close friends was very important to Donna and that continues today.  If you ask anyone at St. Anne Home about her, they’ll explain that she has a beautiful smile, she’s kind, caring and a good listener – all great qualities of a good friend.  Donna’s roommate Whinny would agree.  The two “hit it off” immediately and can now be found eating, attending mass or activities together or just sitting in their room talking about old times.  Donna explains that she’s thankful that St. Anne Home has given her the opportunity to meet new friends like Whinny and many others.  

Another great quality of Donna is her positive attitude towards everything.  A saying that is used regularly in Donna’s life is, “Never say no – do what you have to do...”  This has helped her many times during her life.  Two situations in particular are when her mother became ill and she took over as caregiver and then later in life when Donna had a stroke.  Donna will be the first to tell you that none of this was easy, but with her strong faith and positive attitude she’s a stronger person today because of it.

With the Christmas season upon us, Donna has been reminiscing about one of her favorite pastimes, cooking and baking.  She has many fond memories of spending hours in the kitchen with her family baking nut rolls and sending them to out of state relatives.  She remembers everyone calling to thank her for the thoughtful gift and then telling her, “They didn’t break again, Donna.”  She was very careful to make sure they were packed very tightly when shipped and never had a broken one in all her years of baking!

When you ask Donna what she likes best about St. Anne Home, she finds it difficult, “I’m not sure, everything - it’s a wonderful place to live!”  But most of all, she especially appreciates the kind and compassionate staff.     

Donna is a true example of a wonderful woman aging with beauty and grace.  From the mouths of residents, staff, volunteers and visitors – Donna is a true blessing to have at St. Anne Home!