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Feb. 22, 1925 — Dec. 7, 2021

Donna P. Drolet, 96, died at the home of her daughter early Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021, after a brief illness.

She was a lifelong resident of Niles having been born in Niles on Feb. 22, 1925, to Byford and Rubie (Canfield) Jones, the eldest of four daughters. She married Louis P. Drolet on June 5, 1948, at St. Mary’s Church in Niles. Together they raised five daughters, Mary Ellen Drolet, Margaret (Jerry) Hansen, Marla (Tim) Stuver and Marissa (Joseph) Ryder of Niles and Martha (Allan) Watrud, of Middleton, Wisconsin all of whom mourn her loss deeply. In addition to her five daughters, she leaves eight grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren and two step-great-grandchildren. Her sister, Dorlene Depoy Saratore, of Niles, also survives; two sisters, Anita (Kenneth) Cogswell and Ellen (Don) Morrow preceded her in death.

Second only to her love for her family was her passion for local history-especially the history of Fort St. Joseph. A supporter of the Fort St. Joseph Archaeology Project, she would recount how her third-grade class walked from Central School to the Fort St. Joseph rock in 1933 and the teacher promised that “they would find the original fort someday.” Retiring by nature, she was not quiet in her advocacy for Fort St. Joseph and the Four Flags. She was a founding member of Support the Fort and served on the Niles Historical Commission. She was also a member of the Rebecca Dewey Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

According to her wishes, services will be private and there will be no visitation. Burial will be at Silverbrook Cemetery next to her beloved husband Louis P. Drolet who died in 1993.

Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Halbritter Wickens Funeral Services, 615 E. Main St., Niles.

Online condolences to the family may be made at halbritterwickens.com.