Donna Hall Kater

June 10, 1955 - October 29, 2019

Memorial held at La Mesa First United Methodist Church
November 23, 2019

Audio Recording of the Service - Listen to the memorial service.

David Kater's Memorial Video - The video David created and shared during the service

Slideshow - Shown during the reception

Slideshow (Alternate Extended Version)

Lora Lefllang (Sister):

I miss our Donna. "Our" Donna because she belonged to all of us. She was our counselor, our inspiration, our advisor, our partner, our true and honest friend. She was our cousin, aunt, sister, wife and mother, grandmother. She was My sister, friend, confidant, counselor and co-spirit. My mother assigned her three daughters our own colors. Lynette was yellow, I was pink, Donna's color was blue. Blue to me has always symbolized peace, love, calm, and wisdom because this is what Donna was. Her spirit in this life and in her new life, was and is just radiant. There is no way to count how many lives she influenced, inspired, and saved. She is still here with us, begging us to be better and to make a concerted and energetic effort to make a difference to those around us. We need to do this in memory of Donna. It was her time to leave us. But she leaves each of us with a part of her spirit. Let's remember her by passing her gifts on to the next person in need. Let's be empathetic, filled with love and continual forgiveness. Let's follow her brilliant light. I am so so grateful she was my sister and a best friend. Thank you all for loving our Donna.

Lynnette Sable (Sister):

When Close to Death

Donna was a very sweet and a very gentle person, and she loved her life in this world. She didn't want to leave. While she was here, she lived life to the fullest. She surrounded herself with love. I treasure the time we had together. We talked about birth and death, and everything that happens in between. Both of us agreed that birth is a sacred event, a holy time. Death, also, is a sacred event, a holy time. Between these two sacred bookends of birth and death, we have what we call life. Death of the body gives birth to the Spirit, and the Spirit goes on to the next place.

Donna studied the religions of the world, and she loved all things spiritual, no matter what the source. One of the passages she liked a lot is from the Bhagavad Gita:

Thy tears are for those beyond tears. The wise grieve not for those who live; and they grieve not for those who die—for life and death shall pass away. For all things born in truth must die, and out of death in truth comes life. Face to face with what must be, cease thou from sorrow. Invisible before birth are all beings and after death invisible again. They are seen between two unseens. Why in this truth find sorrow? The Spirit that is in all beings is immortal in them all. For the death of what cannot die, cease thou to sorrow.

Donna also really liked a poem called Stages, by Hermann Hesse.

As every flower fades and as all youth
Departs, so life at every stage,
So every virtue, so our grasp of truth,
Blooms in its day and may not last forever.
Since life may summon us at every age
Be ready, heart, for parting, new endeavor.
Be ready bravely and without remorse
To find new light that old ties cannot give.
In all beginnings dwells a magic force
For guarding us and helping us to live.

Serenely let us move to distant places
And let no sentiments of home detain us
The Cosmic Spirit seeks not to restrain us
But lifts us stage by stage to wider spaces.
If we accept a home of our own making,
Familiar habit makes for indolence.
We must prepare for parting and leave-taking,
Or else remain the slaves of permanence.
Even the hour of our death may send
Us speeding on to fresh and newer spaces,
And life may summon us to newer races.
So be it, heart:  bid farewell without end.

Donna gave me one of her most-loved books, the I Ching, just before she died. After she passed, I found a quote she had written in the margin:

The Mountain. Keeping Still.
Keeping still like the mountain
Keeping still means stopping.

Stopping—the mysterious place where all things begin and end, where death and birth pass one into the other.
Every end has a new beginning.

Donna started going to church toward the end of her life, When close to death, Donna had a vision of heaven. In her vision, friends and family who have gone before are having a big party with singing, dancing, laughing—so happy to see her, so full of love. I feel she's there now.

Here's another passage, this one from the Bible:

The Lord says:
I am making everything new!
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

Never again will they hunger;
    never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,
    nor any scorching heat.
 For the Lamb at the center of the throne
    will be their shepherd;
he will lead them to springs of living water.
    And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Donna asked for prayers, prayers, and more prayers. And in the end, she said her heart was wide open, and that she could feel every prayer that was said for her, near and far, coming straight into her heart. Maybe, when we are silent and keeping still, and our hearts are wide open, we can feel every prayer that she says for us from the next place, coming straight into our hearts.

Christopher Hutton (Son):

Don't cry. Don't cry you can get through this!
My mom was one of the most genuine, caring and honest people I have ever known. She touched
many of our lives with her compassion and graceful attitude towards life. If you were a close
friend or just someone she met once you knew she was an amazing source of positive energy
and Love.
Love and compassion for others came very naturally to her. She could light up any room and
everyone in it with her inspiring beautiful spirit. I loved her and will always carry her memory with
me wherever I go. My mom and my Gramma Fern were without a doubt 2 of my favorite people
and I will never forget what they did for me and the many other people who were fortunate
enough to have known them. Thank you

Jane Cramer (Friend and MSIA Minister):

Donna was like a Chalice of Gold, allowing pure spirit to flow through her into this world and we were so blessed to be part of her journey and recipients of her blessings.  To David, Chris, Lora, Lynette, your entire family, friends and loved ones, Know that your support and unconditional loving provided her a beautiful foundation upon which she could stand and deliver her God given gifts to this world. She has made her big graduation from this physical level and yet her soul embraces our hearts in even greater and greater ways.  She has become a wayshower for us--a gift in how to fully embrace our everlasting life, peace, harmony and loving. During the last month of her life here, when I came to visit, I would look into her eyes and see so much brilliance and life and yet her body was becoming more and more compromised.  On the last day, it became apparent to me, that her brilliance, clarity and divine adorable, loving and humorous self was signaling our Lord Jesus Christ that she was ready to continue her ministry by his side.

Thank You Donna, we love you!

Teresa Rodgers (Friend and MSIA Minister):

I would like to share this quote from Donna’s book, “I’m Still Alive, Now What?!? How to Survive After a Life Changing Event”. Donna writes, “She has learned to operate from her soul’s perspective and sees others as souls having a human experience.” Donna was ordained in August of 1983 and a blessing was bestowed upon Donna. I would like to share a portion of that blessing with you now…. “There is a blessing brought forward for you and it is that of encouragement, an encouragement to participate as fully as you are able, in every moment of your life. 

Use this encouragement as the force that guides you inside. Strive to be the best and to do the best that you can, being true to your heart. Allow your beauty to radiate through all that you do.  

Seek the aliveness of your heart, and let it flow out into all that you do.  Discover the excitement and the joy of living.  Let it be contagious through you.  See the beauty in each sunset.  See the beauty all around you, for each moment is unique, each moment is a gateway into another beautiful moment.  

Ron Bernstein (Friend and MSIA Minister):

Welcome. My name is Ron Bernstein and with me are fellow ministers Jane Cremer and Teresa Rogers. Donna was a big part of all of our lives and we’d like to share some thoughts and memories with you.
We all met 35 to 40 years ago through a common goal of personal and spiritual growth. Our teacher, John Roger, encourages spiritual growth through loving service. Donna exemplified this on many levels.
We offer a blessing for the soul of Donna Kater on her way home to the heart God. She has completed her time with us, but her spirit will remain present forever. May our hearts be filled with her loving memory, with her joy and her enthusiasm for life. We ask for a blessing of healing for her family and friends knowing that we have not lost her, she has transcended.

Donna lived her ministry and that blessing each and every day in countless ways. She was a true gift and light for us all.
I’d like to share some words by John Roger that I believe reflect who we know as Donna.
“Service is the highest form of consciousness in the physical world. When we recognize our love of humanity, we do whatever has to be done to express that love to and with others.
Service is an expression of loving in action, with no demand for or expectation of a reward. Service is its own reward. Along with that expression there are often side effects, known as joy and upliftment.
The greatest part of expression in this world is to be loving and to experience what love is. “Finally, I’d like to share I short poem I wrote that has helped me in times like this:

Our love is eternal
Our joy is boundless
Our faith is unwavering
But our time is finite
Lift our hearts as we laugh
Open our hearts as we sing
Fill our souls with Light
As we remember
As we find peace
We trust and we forgive
We embrace and we console
We are the light,
We are the truth, and
We are the way
Peace be still
Peace everlasting

The following are a sampling of photos of Donna with family and friends along with several from the memorial service.

Donna - We Love You, We Honor You, We Remember You.

Rest in Peace