Donna Marie Breikss

Obituary Donna Marie (McCann) Breikss passed with peace and grace on April 27, 2018 with her husband and sons by her side after a long illness. Born November 15, 1959 in Spokane, Washington to the late John and Margaret McCann, Donna was the third of seven children. She attended St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School before the family moved to Tacoma, where she continued her education at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School and graduated from Bellarmine Preparatory School in 1978. While attending Tacoma Community College and working at Tacoma West Cinemas, a chance meeting in April of 1979 led Donna to the love of her life, Arvids Breikss. Donna and Arvids were married in February of 1980, welcoming their first son Brian in 1981 and second son Steven in 1984. After completing training in the Montessori method of education, Donna began her career in teaching at Saint Patrick Catholic School in Tacoma, Washington in the Fall of 1989. In her twenty-nine years as a pre-kindergarten teacher, Donna held a great love for the generations of families that came through her classroom, even after the onset of her illness in March 2014, until her medically-necessary retirement in November 2018. In her free time, Donna enjoyed tending to her beautiful home gardens, collecting cookbooks to inspire her cooking and baking, spending time with her family and friends, and devoting herself to her faith and community. She will forever be remembered as a loving, compassionate, and selfless person whose greatest passion was spreading kindness to those around her. Donna is survived by her husband of 38 years, Arvids; son Brian (Dawn); son Steven (Selena); brothers Dan (Colleen), Mike (Chris), Tom, Robert (Amy), and sisters Peggy (Patrick) and Rita, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. Mass of Christian Burial of Donna will be held Friday, May 18, 2018 at 11:30am at Saint Patrick Catholic Church in Tacoma, Washington. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations made in Donna's memory to the Donna Marie Breikss Memorial Scholarship Fund at Saint Patrick Catholic School - 1112 North G Street, Tacoma, Washington 98403. The family would also like to thank the Franciscan Gynecologic Oncology Clinic and the St. Joseph Outpatient Infusion Clinic for the years of care they provided to our Donna. Arrangements by Gaffney Funeral Home