Donna Ogburn

Donna Ruth Ogburn passed away unexpectedly at her home in Winston-Salem on January 5, 2022. A Winston-Salem native, she was the daughter of  W.E. Jack Ogburn, Jr. and Peggy Bost Ogburn, and the second of their five children. She graduated from RJ Reynolds High School in 1978 and earned a BS in Nursing from University of North Carolina-Greensboro.

Donna loved reading romance novels, hosting holiday potlucks for extended family at her farmhouse in Cabarrus County and, as the legendary “Aunt Donna,” doting on her nieces and nephews.  When she visited family she was never empty-handed, always bringing things she had picked up when thinking of you, or something (usually party mix) she made because she knew how much you loved it.

Being an Ogburn, she was smart, stubborn, and good at her chosen profession as a registered nurse for over 35 years. Early in her career, she was a traveling nurse, thinking it was a good way to see the country, including Hawaii and Boston. She spent one term in New Orleans just so she could go to Mardi Gras. Most recently, Donna worked in the cardiac and pulmonary intensive care unit at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital. She was known for her wealth of knowledge and passion for nursing, and her home-baked treats. Like most healthcare workers over the past two years, she cared for COVID-19 patients who came to her unit. She also cared for our father and our Uncle Jackie during their final years.

Her one vanity was her hair, which she grew out in high school and kept long ever since. At times, her hair fell all the way to the back of her knees.

Donna was preceded in death by her parents, her Uncle Jackie, and her niece Lily Ogburn. She is survived by her siblings; sister, Jackie Ogburn and her husband, Ben Deahl; brothers Lenny Ogburn and wife, Allison; Dennis Ogburn and wife, Donna Michelle Lanclos; and Roger Ogburn and wife, Jennifer; and her nieces and nephews, Claire and Emily Deahl, Zachary and Lauren Ogburn, Willow and Finley Ogburn, and Noah and Josh Ogburn. A funeral service will be conducted 2:00 PM Saturday, January 22nd at Hayworth-Miller Silas Creek Chapel.