Donna Pauline Belanger

Obituary Donna Pauline (Yanke) Belanger, 74, of Pine Knoll Shores, passed into eternal peace at home Sunday, September 27th surrounded by her devoted husband and loving daughters, after a struggle with ovarian cancer. The family will celebrate a memorial Mass at St Egbert Catholic Church on Friday, October 2, 2020 at 11:00 AM with the Father Thomas R. Davis officiating. A separate memorial Mass will be held in CT at a later date. Due to Covid 19, space will be limited as social distancing and masks will be required at the service. The service will be live-streamed on the Noe-Brooks Funeral Home Facebook page at this link https://fb.me/e/1a87cB1Cb Donna was the daughter of Paul and Adeline Yanke of Tolland, Connecticut. She leaves behind Richard, her loving husband of 53 years; daughter, Jennifer Canfield and her husband James, of Willimantic, CT; daughter, Melissa Tomforde and her husband Jason and their children, Bradyn and Lily Tomforde all of Sterling, MA; as well as brothers, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews and other extended family. She was predeceased by her parents and her brother Donald Yanke of Rockville, CT. Donna and Rich were high school sweethearts in Ellington, CT before they married. She had her own home bakery business where she created wedding, birthday and other specialty cakes for the residents of Tolland, CT and beyond. Together they were charter members of the St. Matthew Couples Club in Tolland where many lifelong friendships were born. After 38 years together in Tolland, Donna and Rich retired to Pine Knoll Shores, NC where she became very involved in the community including membership in the Pine Knoll Shores Garden Club and the Pine Knoll Shores Women's Club. She was also a member of the St. Egbert Ladies Guild where she was very involved in many of the functions, especially the annual Card Party where she handled coordinating all the desserts for the event. Donna lived for her grandchildren who knew her as 'G', and she visited them several times each year. Every birthday came with a special 'themed' hat that was made entirely by hand. Card games, puzzles and silly drawing games kept everyone entertained and laughing for hours. In addition to her cake business, Donna was an avid baker of any dessert, and she passed these skills and the love of baking on to her daughters. Some of her favorite activities were bird watching both at home and on the beach. She participated in the yearly bird count in PKS. She was a great beachcomber and could spend hours finding all the perfect shells. She was a proud fan of UCONN Women's Basketball, and enjoyed watching and attending the games. To many of her friends she was known as the "craft lady" because of her painting on wood items and her accomplished calligraphy. No note was ever written without this special touch, including all of the wedding invitations for both her daughters. Her artistry and creativity knew no bounds. She had the unique ability to make everything beautiful. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St Egbert Catholic Church, 1706 Evans St, Morehead City, NC 28557 or Discovery To Cure, Yale School of Medicine, Dept. of OB/GYN and Reproductive Sciences, PO Box 208063, New Haven, CT 06520. Condolences and life tributes may be sent to the family at www.noebrooks.net Arrangements are by Noe-Brooks Funeral Home and Crematory of Morehead City, NC. Please click here to view the video tribute Richard's Eulogy & Daughter's Tribute Click to download / open Services Memorial Mass Friday October 2, 2020 11:00 AM St. Egbert Catholic Church (Morehead City) 1706 Evans S Morehead City, NC 28557