Dona McBee Mitcheltree, 95 passed away as gently as she lived on January 23, 2020 at Rolling Hills Healthcare in Belle Fourche, SD.

Dona Claire Core was born on December 24, 1924 to Nellie (Byrd) & Stanley Core in Rapid City, SD. She graduated from Rapid City High School in 1943 and attended Principia College in Illinois.

She married Darwin L. McBee on December 30, 1947 and they had six children. They divorced in 1970.  She married Ivan Johnson in 1978 & was married to him until his death in 1988.  She married Ausby (Mitch) Mitcheltree in 1989 and they were happily married until his death in 1997.

Dona always said she and her sister had a charmed childhood.  Although they lived in town, they had a pony that they kept in their backyard.  Because their father worked for the railroad, they traveled by train to visit relatives and to the Chicago World's Fair in 1933.

Dona was passionate about music and dancing.  Whatever type of dance step came up, she was ready to try…whether it was square dance, ballroom or teaching line dancing at the senior citizens center.  While she was a classically trained pianist, she taught herself to play boogie woogie music while at college, which her children loved to hear her play.  Later in life she took organ lessons and thoroughly enjoyed that too.  She had quite a sense of humor and loved to interact with others.  She also mentored children in reading.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Ausby Mitcheltree, her sister Iris Kephart and her son Daniel McBee.

She is survived by her children; Bonnie Berk (Waynesville, NC) Linda Nelsen, Susan (Jerry) Roth, Diane McMullen & David McBee (all from Rapid City SD) and her grandchildren Kim (JD) Danhoff, Tiffany (Stefan) Dentchev, Kyle (Tanya) Nelsen, Kendra (Kevin) Martin, Ryan (Dejay) Nelsen, Chris Roth, Ben (Susan) Roth, Bethany (Luke) Coleman, Matthias Roth, Sam (Shayla) Roth, Jena Slinde, Kayla (Nathan) Loecker, Amanda (Brett) Fergen and many great grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at the Agape Spiritual Center in the "On Common Grounds Center" at 610 St. Francis St. on March 6, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. with a reception to follow at the church.