Donna Johnson, the former DeKalb City Clerk and Second Ward Alderman, died peacefully at home on June 3, 2025.  The cause of death was complications of stomach cancer. She was seventy-eight.

Donna Sue Spencer was born on August 14, 1946, at St. Mary's Hospital in DeKalb, to Paul and Mildred Phyllis (Jones) Spencer, who had moved north from Kentucky for work.

She married Glen Johnson on February 16, 1979. They spoke their wedding vows standing before the brick fireplace hearth built by Glen in their home in Tilton Park. They were married until his death in 2014. To the end of her life, Donna never removed her wedding ring.

Donna won election to City Clerk, then a full-time position, in 1997. The office under her leadership was highly regarded for professionalism, transparency and reliability. A talented bookkeeper, Donna closely monitored the details of city transactions and expertly recorded the minutes of city government meetings. She served as clerk until 2009.

On the DeKalb City Council, Donna represented the Second Ward from 1993 to 1997. She was unfailingly responsive to the calls and concerns of her constituents. She also served as Deputy City Clerk from 1977 to 1988.

Inspired by a commitment to inclusive and honest government, Donna served a term as president of the DeKalb County League of Women Voters.

Donna had earlier been the co-founder and manager, with her sister, Shirley Justice, of the DeKalb Credit Union Service Center, which focused on savings and loans for working people.

She had grown up on Fairview Drive on the south end of DeKalb. All of her life, she was known for being a hard worker. As a teenager, she had worked as a car hop at the old Dog n Suds on East Lincoln Highway.

She attended DeKalb High School through her junior year, before moving to Sandwich, where she graduated from high school in 1964.

Smart, spirited and independent, with a quick wit and a wonderful deadpan sense of humor, Donna presided over countless birthdays and holidays in a home that grew ever more crowded as the years passed.

She was steadfastly loyal and loving to her four step-children and unabashedly proud and doting to the eleven beloved grandchildren. At Christmas gatherings, Donna literally spent hours handing out a whopping number of gifts to the kids – so many they barely fit in a car.

In recent years, she was thrilled to welcome seven little great-grandchildren.

Donna is survived by her brother, Terry Spencer; a niece, Jacinda Shaffer; step-children, Dirk Johnson, Cynthia (Benjamin) Chereskin, Rachel (Ted) Strack and Jennifer (Richard Neubauer) Johnson; grandchildren, Amanda Johnson, Harlan (Lindsay) Johnson, Nora Johnson and Henry (Nora Sagal) Johnson; Jacob (Melissa) Chereskin and Alexander Chereskin; Will (Patricia) Strack, Joseph (Jillian) Strack and Tessa (Patrick) Dowd; Emma Johnson and Georgia Johnson; great-grandchildren, Charley Johnson; Rafaela Chereskin and Gabriela Chereskin; Penelope Strack and Max Strack; Pierce Strack; Calvin Dowd.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Glen; her sister, Shirley; her brother-in-law, Larry Justice; aunts, uncles and cousins – and Sissy, her beloved Bichon Frise.

Visitation will be Monday, June 9, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., with services immediately following at 1:00 p.m., at Butala Funeral Home, 1405 DeKalb Avenue, Sycamore. Graveside services will be at Elmwood Cemetery, with a luncheon afterwards.

To sign the online guest book, go to www.ButalaFuneralHomes.com