Dr. Donna Marie Brooks Fonvielle: Loris
1949 – 2024
Dr. Donna Marie Brooks Fonvielle of Loris passed away on Monday, November 18, at McLeod Seacoast Hospital in Little River. She was 75.
Born March 24, 1949, in Loris, she was the daughter of the late Gerald Ruthledge Brooks and the late Mary Belle Bellamy Brooks.
Survivors include her daughter, Andressa Fonvielle Chapman and her husband Jason of Cottage Grove, Oregon; her son, Garrett Russell Fonvielle and his fiancée Eryca French of Myrtle Beach; granddaughters Miya Brooks Fonvielle and Kylie Skye French; her sisters, Mary Olis Jayroe of Myrtle Beach and Melinda Sue Brooks and her fiancé Don Phillips of Little River; her brother, Glenn Gordon Brooks and his wife Connie of Atlanta, Georgia; and many loving cousins, nieces, nephews and extended family.
In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her brothers, W. Gerald Brooks and Robert Howell Brooks, and a sister, Mary Elsie Brooks.
Donna led a life of abundance in faith and love. A Loris native and life-long resident–a self-described “little red-headed farm girl”—Donna grew up on a tobacco farm outside of town, later building her home on a patch of land across the road from the family home.
She graduated from Loris High School in 1967, then used scholarship winnings from the South Carolina pageant circuit to help fund her tuition to Clemson University. She graduated from Clemson in 1971 having helped found the university’s charter chapter of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and earned her degree in education.
A true nurturer, Donna spent most of her career educating young minds at Daisy Elementary School. Simultaneously, she continued learning, earning her Master’s in Education, and ultimately her Doctorate (Ed.D.) in Youth and Child Studies. With these degrees, she then took her classroom on the road as a teacher specialist in the South Carolina public school system, supporting teachers and schools in communities with lower resources around the state.
Upon her retirement, she had amassed over 30 years of service in the state’s public schools, the majority of those in her hometown of Loris.
Donna also loved music. From a musical family, she and her siblings grew up singing in the choir at Camp Swamp United Methodist Church. As a teen, she honed her musical abilities as the lead singer in a (very groovy) high school band and, later, as a member of Clemson’s glee club. As an adult, she led musical worship as choir director at Loris First United Methodist Church for more than 20 years. She was also a member and board officer of the Loris Music Literary Club. She lent her talents to anyone in town (and beyond) who asked her to sing for their weddings or comfort them and their families in their times of need. Donna loved all types of music, and ever-present in the home were pop, country, standards, and showtunes. She delighted in her daughter’s school piano recitals and choral concerts, and more recently, her granddaughter’s school choral concerts. One of her greatest joys was listening to her daughter and granddaughter, Miya, belt out pop tunes in the car.
A genuine sports fan, she relished the days of taking her kids to Clemson’s Death Valley to sit on The Hill and watch the Tigers in person. Having raised a son with talents in both baseball and football, she had a great love of both. Later in life, she loved cheering for her granddaughters, Kylie’s softball games and Miya’s gymnastics routines.
A woman of great faith, Donna felt closest to God when she was in nature, soaking in all its beauty. In retirement, she combined her love of nature and ability to nurture, creating inviting spaces for the birds and butterflies she loved to watch floating around in her yard and tending–and ever-expanding–her flower garden, vegetable garden and orchard. Never happier than with her hands in the dirt, on any afternoon she could be found outside–planting bulbs, picking fruit, harvesting vegetables, wrestling with weeds, or resting in her swing, always with her beloved chickens pecking around in the yard by her side.
In retirement Donna also enjoyed travelling, making her way to Sedona, New York, Tennessee and the Pacific Northwest. Equally, she loved making smaller day drives to Charleston or Seaport with her sisters, or just visiting with relatives both here in town and in Georgia.
Donna raised a girl and a boy who have always been thankful for such an incredible mom. They will miss her beyond words and are grateful that her spirit will stay with them always.
Visitation was planned from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 23, at Hardwick Funeral Home.
Committal services were planned at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 23, at the Bellamy-Brooks Cemetery in Longs.
Memorials may be made to the Loris Garden Club c/o Wanda Cox, P.O. Box 462, Loris, SC 29569.
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