Donna Kay Geurin

Donna Kay Geurin, wife of David Milton Geurin for 62 years, and mother of Dr. Michael David Geurin, left this life at sunrise on May 1, 2025, with David and their dog, Sugar, at her side, at their home in Billings, Montana.

Donna was born to Margaret Edeen (Springs) Sharp and Donald Francis Sharp in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on August 15, 1941. Five years later, Margaret and Don welcomed the birth of her brother, Philip. The family moved to Holdenville, Oklahoma, where Donna graduated from Holdenville High School before attending East Central State College in Ada, Oklahoma.

David fondly remembers when Donna arrived in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, his hometown and their home for most of the next fifty years. She and a girlfriend had just rented a house that he was caretaker for. He was smitten. They were married on November 29, 1963, and honeymooned in Dallas, on the heels of President Kennedy’s assassination. Donna worked as a secretary and office manager throughout their time in Bartlesville, but focused on motherhood after they adopted Mike in November 1969. The story goes that soon after they interviewed with an adoption agency in Oklahoma City, a baby boy arrived; the staff felt he bore a resemblance to the Geurins. As they were not next on the list, he was put into foster care. Eleven weeks later, Donna and David received a call to come to Oklahoma City that day to pick up a wicker basket with Mike inside.

During the Seventies, Donna enjoyed ceramics and painting and macramé…and a motorcycle, briefly. She brought Mike along to her craft classes, ensuring his early exposure to the arts, and she supported his interest in piano, drama, drawing, and singing. The family enjoyed camping at Grand Lake with David’s brother Herman and Herman’s family. They split the big family holidays between David’s family in the Bartlesville area (including his mother, Beulah, and the family of his brother, R.H.) and Donna’s family in Holdenville: her mother and stepfather (Otho Bartlett); her brother, Philip; his wife, Loita; and their children Jennifer and Jonathan.

In 1980, David was transferred to Stavanger, Norway with Phillips Petroleum, and they lived in Sandnes for over three years. Donna enjoyed worked as the secretary for North Sea Baptist Church, and was active in the Phillips Wives Club. They relished the opportunity to travel, visiting London, road-tripping through Denmark, spending an Easter week in Israel, enjoying ski trips to Austria and France (though skiing was not really Donna’s thing), and spending a week in Greece. Donna also enjoyed a women’s trip to Spain.

The Geurins returned to Bartlesville in 1983. Donna became the office manager for Dr. Mike Tribbey, and also started crafting professionally, a passion she would continue until this past December. Weekends were spent in their RV at Gray’s Ranch on the shore of Grand Lake. When Mike graduated high school, they went on the road to Yellowstone and the Tetons, and became frequent visitors to national parks. Mike eventually chose to do his family medicine residency training in Billings, joining the residency faculty after graduation, and starting his life with his husband, Rory Rogina. Rory quickly became Donna and David’s second son,

combining Donna’s love for crafting and David’s love for handiwork. The four of them (with as many or more dogs) frequently took the RV to the Tetons, Yellowstone, Glacier and the Canadian Rockies.

In 2010, it became clear that Donna would soon need a kidney transplant. Mike consulted with her future nephrologist in Billings, and Donna and David decided to build a house a block from Rory and Mike. David, ever handy, finished the basement himself, and in 2011, Mike was tested as a potential kidney donor. Remember that resemblance the adoption agency noticed? Mike was as good a genetic match as a biological child would be, and so that October, Donna received Mike’s right kidney.

Donna and David enjoyed their life in Billings, frequently camping in the mountains, selling her crafts and jewelry in the area, and taking trips with the boys, including a Disney cruise to Alaska, island-hopping in Hawaii, and several trips to Disney parks tacked on to Mike’s medical conferences. Donna treasured her schnauzers, and was quickly befriended by Dr. Diana Kuehn and the staff at Shiloh Veterinary Hospital.

Though renal failure was cured by the transplant, the damage from secondary hypertension had taken its toll. In her final years, Donna suffered from vascular dementia, spending her final ten weeks at home supported by RiverStone Health Hospice.

A memorial will be held at a future date, when Donna and David's lives can be celebrated together. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Yellowstone Forever (https://www.yellowstone.org/ways-to-give/other-ways-to-give/) or the Rimrock Humane Society https://www.rimrockhumanesociety.org/donate/https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=C5R5QTDF8QPCY&ssrt=1746482328337