By Roberta Young Jonnet
Donnetta Halverson Walser was a teacher, mentor and friend in the city of Monroe Washington for 32 years. She also became a city council member while teaching and raising two boys and mayor after retirement. Her impact was felt most by her students and her coworkers whom she mentored. Near the end of a 28-year teaching career she was asked to work with students at risk of dropping out. Donnetta embraced the challenge and made lifelong friendships. Known for her ability to persuade people, she negotiated at the local, state and federal level for the city of Monroe.
Donnetta Halverson Walser was born in 1943, Jerome, Idaho, graduated from the University of Idaho and became a teacher. Her tenure in the Monroe School District lasted twenty-eight years and she served 32 years in local politics. She was on the Monroe City Council from 1976-1983 and 1999-2002, 15 years on the Monroe Civil Service Commission, the U.S. 2 Safety Coalition, the Snohomish County Senior Services board of directors, the Snohomish County League of Women Voters serving a term as president; and two terms as Monroe’s mayor 2002-2009. She was also the wife to former Washington State Patrol officer Fred Walser and the mother of two sons. She retired from teaching in 2001. In early 2016 the then Monroe Mayor Geoffrey Thomas honored Donnetta by dedicating the parks and public works building to her and renaming it the Donnetta Walser Building.
Donnetta passed away from breast cancer on December 22, 2016.
After retirement from teaching, in her role as mayor she struggled with the Washington State Department of Corrections (Washington State Reformatory and Twin Rivers Corrections Center are in Monroe) to get them to pay a $220,000 water bill. The bill had grown with a water leak at the prison between September 2006 and May 2007. Approximately 20 million gallons of water were spilled. When Governor Christine Gregoire was touring Monroe, Walser showed her the bill. The bill was paid.
Walser was working at the time to renegotiate the contract that allowed the prisons to pay for half of what was normally charged for water. A prison staffer came to city hall for a permit. The mayor told staff not to issue the permit. By 2009 she and Tim Quenzer, then interim city administrator, went to Olympia to negotiate and were successful in gaining a new contract. “Before we were through, every prison superintendent in the state knew me by my first name,” Walser was quoted as saying.
She also worked to correct a problem with the highest number of collisions in the state for a two-year period where U.S. 2 runs through the city. She lobbied for installation of c-curbing down the center of the highway between SR 522 and Chain Lake Road. She became aware the highway was federally funded, and she needed to go to Washington D.C. to request funding for a Route Development Plan (RDP). No safety improvements could be made until an RDP was made. The Washington State Department of Transportation paid for the work. The barrier reduced the number of collisions.
Walser was able to obtain funding from the state for a one-of-a-kind baseball field for children with disabilities, collaborating with the Monroe Rotary Club. To obtain a $500,000 grant from the legislature she showed them photos of the children who would be using the field.
The Monroe Monitor wrote “with the passing of former Monroe Mayor Donnetta Walser, the community is mourning the loss of an icon. During her time as an education and elected official, Walser took risks, celebrated victories and weathered storms with grace. She was a mother, wife, role model and a tireless public servant.”
Her obituary stated she “was best known for her kindness, compassion, elegance and unassuming strength.” Also “commended for her extraordinary skill as an education and her steadfast commitment to the betterment of her community. No task was too formidable for Donnetta.” A memorial scholarship was set up with the Monroe Public Schools Foundation.
Her obituary included a request for gently used books to be brought to the memorial service. Family, friends and former students contributed 18 boxes of books which were given to the Providence Foundation reading program and the Monroe Library. A label was placed on the inside of each book which read “Donnetta Halverson Walser – Teacher, Mentor, Friend.”
At Walser’s memorial Washington State Senator Kirk Pearson read a bill he sponsored: Senate Resolution 8640 in March 2017. It stated “Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Washington State Senate honor Mayor Donnetta Walser, and recognize her years of exemplary public service, dedication to the education of young people, unwavering commitment to community development and love for her family and the people she served.”
The resolution included that “Mayor Walser led a grant-funded program at Monroe Middle School that catered to kids struggling with attendance or failing grades (and she) would always remind her kids that they were gifted…”Resolution 8640 read that “she was known for her ability to build compromise and work long nights at council meetings that sometimes stretched into morning; and even after meetings that lasted until 2:00 a.m., she would return home to…correct students’ papers…” Always proud of the success of her students, she “cherished the phone calls from past pupils expressing their thanks for her hard work and influence.”
U.S. Representative Susan DelBene got to know the Walsers’ through their efforts to increase safety on U.S. 2. DelBene arranged to have a U.S. flag flown over the U.S. Capitol in Donnetta’s memory.
“What is a teacher?” asked Rabbit. “A teacher encourages a caterpillar to become a butterfly,” said Bear.
Dottie Simone, a retired Monroe teacher, said she met Donnetta in 1981, and Donnetta became her master teacher. “Thank God I got Donnetta. She was so kind to me.” They taught for 20 years together. As for her mentoring, “she stuck by me. Always positive, she was there to help me and biggest advocate when I applied for other jobs.
In her classroom management, and in dealing with parents, “never saw her lose her temper with the kids.” She was always so patient. Students remembered her as someone who loved them. Kids would stop at school and visit her. Several would write her letters telling her how she helped them.
In 1994 they took a master’s program together 2 weekends a month, and that Summer in Monroe. Together Simoni and Walser developed curriculum for 8th grade Language Arts. Donnetta taught English, journalism, speech, drama, business and one year of health.
Near the end of her teaching career, the principal asked Walser to take on a program for at-risk kids. She could have said no, Simoni said, but was always up for a challenge, and “I rarely heard her say no if she believed in something” Simoni stated. She taught life skills as well. If girls needed help, she’d bring in social services and counselors. She had the principal add them to the school’s free and reduced lunch program. They became Donnetta’s kids. Many came back to visit Walser, and several were at her memorial.
Simoni explained she believed that “she was there for the kids.” Her kindness was there and when someone needed help, they knew they could come to her. Donnetta “did what was right”, what was best for the kids. She had the power to persuade people. She had integrity, held her counsel. Donnetta was a people person, Simoni said, people were drawn to her. She loved to have fun and loved to travel. She never gave up.
“I admired how she always got her way –with the mayor, city council, her room. She had a way of persuading people. “It’s all in the eyes,” Donnetta told her. “She wasn’t overbearing,” Simoni continued, she just had a way of presenting things. When she spoke up at a faculty meeting, people listened.” She was respected by every administrator we had, stated Simoni.
Dr. Ron Crawford wrote on a memorial page “During my five years as Superintendent of the Monroe School District I had the privilege of knowing Donnetta and Fred. I will always remember Donnetta as a dedicated and excellent teacher…an outstanding person served the Monroe community with grace, style and dedication.”
Chris Henrickson, of the Monroe Monitor wrote in January 2017 “perhaps the most meaningful time of her teaching career was just before her retirement when was hired to oversee a grant-funded program at Monroe Middle School specifically tailored for at-risk youth. The students were funneled into the program based on failing grades, poor attendance and other academic issues. Some had drug-addicted parents, some didn’t have enough food, and some had unaddressed medical problems. She had 15 students. Some called them troubled, but Donnetta called them gifted.”
As part of the grant, Walser brought in community leaders to speak to at-risk students. One person was Martha Dankers, community relations director at the former Valley General Hospital. Dankers was asked to mentor a young, pregnant student. “What Donnetta may not have realized is that she not only made a difference for Holly but also enriched my life…Donnetta’s ability to recognize the talents and potential in students that might be buried deep within them is truly the sign of a gifted teacher.” The young woman went on to study nursing and became a registered nurse.
A former student wrote “I am one of those “countless students that will always remember Donnetta’s kindness and intelligence. My favorite teacher!” Another said “I will always remember her as the kind, gentle and caring person she was…how lucky we were to have her in our lives! As kids, we don’t always realize the impact that people have on us, but I sure know it now.
© Roberta Jonnet ~ All Rights Reserved; WLP Story #88