The story of Donna Lynn Woods' battle with poverty and breast cancer touched AJC readers who read about her in a Nov. 23 Personal Journeys feature. Since then, donations have poured in for Woods' children. And one man offered to give Woods a proper burial. You can read the original story here. To make a donation to the Donna's family, go to this website.
Donna Lynn Woods, the single mother of six who died from breast cancer in September and had been buried in a cardboard box, was laid to rest Saturday in an almond-colored casket, covered by a spray of pink roses and carnations. Her daughter and a group of respectful, caring people surrounded her remains.
The tale of how Woods lived her final days, with the help of her children, had been chronicled in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution Personal Journeys story on Nov. 23. Since then, hundreds from metro Atlanta and beyond have rallied behind the family, now headed by Donna’s daughter, 23-year-old Ashley Roberson.
More than $14,000 has been raised for the family, which faced mounting utility, grocery and other bills. In addition, lawyers from Alston & Bird volunteered to handle guardianship filings for the family. A group from UPS came together to donate cash, a laptop and toys. They are also providing clothes and a holiday dinner. People have offered used vehicles. A family who lost their 14-year-old son, Sam, to leukemia last spring, gave the boys every Christmas gift they wanted in their son’s memory.
But perhaps the most lasting gift came from an Athens man who lost his mother to breast cancer when he was 22. After reading that Donna had been buried in a cardboard box held together with duct tape in an unmarked pauper’s grave more than 30 miles from her children, Steven Bush knew right away that he had to “try to right a horrible wrong.”
“It doesn’t matter what race or religion Donna Woods was,” said Bush, who is Jewish. “No one deserved this kind of treatment, and no child should have to live with the memory of what Ashley went through seeing her mother’s body buried in a cardboard box held together with duct tape.”
So, the day after the story appeared, Bush began a lengthy process of learning how to disinter Woods’ body, how to have her placed in a proper casket and where to re-rebury her. It was important to him that the children could have the comfort of being able to visit and pray at their mother’s graveside. After nearly three weeks of coordinating with Williamson Mortuary in Riverdale, Bush was able to tell Ashley that a proper burial was planned for her mother. She needed to go to the funeral home and talk to Sammy Prior. On Dec. 13, Ashley walked in, saw soft pink walls and heard even softer words. Prior told her that he would do whatever he could to make up for the treatment she had witnessed before.
“You can pick out a pink casket, and I’ll even get the vault painted pink for you if that is what you want,” Prior told her.
“I could just kiss you!” Ashley said.
In the end, she picked out an almond-colored one, in keeping with her desire to have her mother buried like a queen. She thought the color “dignified,” she said.
A few days later, Ashley worked with Cassandra Ward at Lincoln Cemetery, only a mile from the family’s home. Ward helped Ashley pick out a plot, near a small tree.
“Could I decorate that for Christmas?” Ashley said. “Mama loved Christmas so much.”
Cemetery workers went out of their way to help, working with Bush in Athens to ensure the move happened before Christmas.
The sight of a shining white Cadillac hearse with lights twinkling on the grill brought a smile to Ashley’s face.
After the casket was transferred to the grave site, Ashley stroked it tenderly. Tears of joy spilled down her face.
“I just wish Mama could see how beautiful this is,” she said.
Bush encouraged her to visit often and to keep her mother’s memory alive in her heart every day. Bush said he had found great comfort visiting the site of his mother’s final resting place and that of his late wife, who also died from breast cancer and is buried next to his parents.
“It is through our memories that we keep our loved ones alive,” Bush said. “I hope this place will be a place of comfort that you can visit at holidays, Mother’s Day or whenever you like, when you can share moments with your mother and offer a prayer of thanks that she was such a wonderful mother.”
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