Donna Holmberg Primmer died at her home in Newbury, Vermont, surrounded by loved ones, on August 13, 2011. She was 61. In 2002 she faced and defeated breast cancer. In 2010 she was diagnosed with uterine cancer. Her courageous struggle to overcome a second cancer was not successful. She leaves behind her husband of 28 years, John, a 25 year old son, Dan, her Mother, Ruth Holmberg, three brothers, Bob, Bill and Darren Holmberg, a sister, Diane Holmberg, a step-son, Rob Primmer, step-daughter-in-law, Shira Fruchtman, and granddaughter, Sophia Rose Primmer. Donna was born in Calumet City, Illinois June 14, 1950. She attended MacMurray College and Illinois Wesleyan University, where she received Bachelor s and Master s degrees in Fine Arts and Education. Donna pursued a broad range of interests. She continued to pursue art all of her adult life, mastering several mediums, including oil, watercolor, pastels, pencil and egg tempura. Her work included portrait, landscape and miniatures. She even learned sculpture, weaving and fiber art. The latter resulted in many caps, mittens and scarves for family and friends. Donna s passion for art was matched by her love of horses. As a child she was horse-crazy , as many girls are, but she stayed with it as an adult. Much of her free time was spent training the family of Arabs and Anglo-Arabs that all, except the founding mare, were born in her barn. And in the process she learned as much from the horses as she had taught them. At the time of her death, Donna still had the founding mare and three of her descendants under her care. Art and horses were her mainstays, but she found time to master other interests. After getting her degrees in Fine Arts, she naturally followed the traditional path and became a receptionist/bookkeeper in a Northeast Kingdom law firm. Over a career spanning more than 25 years, she served as financial manager, paralegal and legislative representative with leading Vermont law firms. In the 1990s, she retired in order to spend full time on art and horses. So she promptly became the owner and manager of a country store located in a tiny, remote village. She added a deli and an art gallery to the store. Within three years, putting in 16 hour days, she made the store profitable. After selling the store to a friend who took it to even greater heights, Donna settled back into her fine arts and equestrian projects, which of course gave her time to plunge into the spiritual realm. This path was interrupted when her home burned to the ground, and she spent the next year designing and overseeing the construction of a new home. Donna was raised, and steadfastly remained, a devout Christian, and she added other spiritual paths. She had long practiced Yoga, but she began to incorporate it into her daily life. She studied Qi Gong and Feng Sui, and had the honor of serving lunch in her new home to a renowned Teacher of those two Eastern disciplines (who found her tea a bit strong, but her window placements just right). In 2010 Donna began a nearly year-long program to become a Yoga Teacher. It was as this program was just underway that she learned of her last illness. As it progressed, her Teacher, and the other classmates gathered on her porch and read her a prayer flag that had been composed by each of them. And her Teacher bestowed on her an Honorary Yoga Teacher Certificate. Memorial services will be conducted near her home in Newbury, Vermont, on a date to be specified, and at Trinity Church in Hammond, Indiana on August 24, 2011 at 10 am. Mourners are encouraged to make contributions in lieu of flowers to the Visiting Nurse & Hospice of Vermont and New Hampshire, PO Box 976, White River Jct., VT 05001-0976, or LARC, PO Box 77,Lansing, IL. A separate fund in the name of Donna Holmberg Primmer will be established to promote equestrian art and related charitable activities.