Tribute

Donna Janelle (Stanley) Palmyra, aged 75, peacefully earned her wings surrounded by love and music on March 3, 2023, at Vitas Hospice House in Lecanto, Florida. While listening to original music she recorded with her late husband Jeff Palmyra, she danced right into Glory with no walker required! Donna was born on August 8, 1947, in Lawrence, Kansas, to Barbara Anne (Johnson) Stanley and Fred Ray Stanley. Though born in Kansas, Donna spent her formative years and much of her adult life in Crossnore, North Carolina, where she was a 1965 graduate of Crossnore High School. In 1969, she earned a BA in English from Berea College and later added a BS in Nursing from UNC Greensboro. Donna was an active musician and a renowned mountain dulcimer player in the western North Carolina area. In 1995 at the Linville Falls, she married fellow musician Jeff Palmyra with whom she performed for years in North Carolina and later in Florida. They played together in such bands as Community Exchange and Standard Deviation before forming their own duo, Boone’s Fork. Their music remains joyful and authentic. In recent years, Donna worked as a dedicated RN at Citrus Memorial Hospital in Inverness, Florida, until her retirement in 2012. She was a highly competent medical professional with a wonderful sense of humor. Her gentle, loving spirit enriched the lives of all who knew her. Donna was preceded in death by her loving husband Jeffrey Richard Palmyra. In addition to an army of cousins and a family of friends, she is survived by two stepchildren, Joseph Edward Palmyra, and Rebecca Palmyra. She is also survived by two step-grandchildren Joseph Bryce Palmyra and Daniel Tyler Palmyra. Bryce had the privilege of being faithfully dedicated to her right until she passed from this world to the next.

Friends & Family