Donna May (Madsen) Casper

Donna May (Madsen) Casper was born May 23, 1930 in Soda Springs, Idaho to John Peter Madsen Jr. and Dortha May Wood. She was the second of three children, with older brother John and younger brother Daniel.

As a child, Donna spent her summers in Grays Lake, Idaho. She enjoyed catching frogs on her grandparents homestead. She went to school in Soda Springs, Idaho. Her father passed away when she was seven from a ruptured appendix.

Her mother remarried when she was 11. The family moved to Blackfoot, Idaho. It was there the family took in a 9-month old baby named Butch. Butch lived with them for several years.

After high school, Donna worked for about five years as an usher and cashier at the Nuart Movie Theater in Blackfoot, then at First Security Bank as a bookkeeper, and finally at Idaho Power Company. It was at the power company that she met Willard A. Casper when he came in to sign up for services. They started dating shortly thereafter.

Willard proposed in June of 1950 and they were married on July 23, 1950 in Elko, Nevada. They were later sealed in the Idaho Falls temple on January 8, 1952.

They had 3 children: Valerie Jean (Casper) Gibson, John Willard Casper, and William Card Casper who died in childbirth.

Donna was also very active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She served for many years in the Primary organization, holding various positions in teaching, as well as the presidency. She seemed to always get the most challenging class but was always up to the task and knew how to handle the class. She even had a class of 22 children at one time - the stake primary presidency was amazed as to how she managed a class of that size so successfully.

Donna took up golf so her and Willard would have something to do together. She joined The Woman’s Golf Association of the local golf course and would golf one weekday morning in addition to golfing with Willard. Donna was also active in swimming. For several years, her and Willard would wake early to go swimming with other senior citizens at the local recreation center. If one of the grandchildren were visiting, they would happily go along with them to swim.

Donna had many talents. She was a very skilled seamstress, making much of the family’s wardrobe. Dresses and shirts were common creations for the family. As time went on, she became more adventurous to include suits, ties, and even a buckskin jacket for her mother’s third husband, James “Jim” Carlin. He was very proud of this jacket and wore it often. Another passion of Donna’s was knitting and crocheting. She would make beautiful Afghans, sweaters, and other items. She was never idle. Whether visiting with family, watching TV, or anything else, her hands were always busy making something.

She always had meticulously groomed flowers, and bushes, Her roses were very well known throughout the neighborhood.
She was also known for her pies, particularly apple pie.

In 2001, Willard and Donna accepted a unique call to serve in a Church Humanitarian Mission. They served in the Midvale Stake where they lived. Their calling was to serve and minister to families assigned by the bishop in one of the wards that had many families with temporal needs. They loved serving and extended what was a one year calling into two and a half years. It might have gone longer, had Willard’s health permitted. They typically served 12 families at a time, helping in a variety of ways. Since many of these families had no transportation, Willard and Donna served as rides to medical appointments, to church, the Bishop’s storehouse, picking up family members from jail, and anything else they needed. They counseled and worked with these families as best they could to help them with better choices.

After the release from the mission, Willard’s Parkinson’s got worse. Donna spent her time caring for him. He was subject to delusions, so she found herself up at 3am, convincing him he didn’t need to go pick oranges, or to go to work. She cared for him at home until his falling became so common that she couldn’t safely keep him home any longer. Then she continued to care for him, visiting him at the nursing facility daily until his passing.

Donna passed away April 23, 2024 in Draper, UT. She is survived by her daughter Valerie Gibson and son John (Cindy) Casper, 8 grandchildren-Natalie (Shawn) Prinkey, Landon (Sarah) Gibson, Kylie Casper, Sean (Emily) Gibson, Chad (Shanae) Casper, Ashlie (Kenny) Farnsworth, Micah (Shelby) Casper, and Malorie (Will) Casper-Bennett, as well as 19 great-grandchildren. Preceded in death by her husband Willard Casper, father and mother, siblings, son William Card Casper, and son-in-law William B Gibson.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, April 27 at 10:30 am at the LDS Church located at 240 E. Greenwood in Midvale, with a viewing 30 minutes prior to the service. Interment, Bountiful City Cemetery.