Born in Charleston, SC, Donna moved to Charlotte, NC as a young girl and lived there for most of her life until last spring when she moved to Durham, NC, to live near one of her children. She had recently retired as the associate minister of music at Christ Lutheran in Charlotte, where she worked closely with Mark Glaeser for over 17 years. She has a bachelor's degree in Music from the College of Charleston and was commissioned as an Associate in Ministry in the Lutheran Church in 2002. She also holds a teaching license in secondary mathematics, and has almost completed work on her masters degree in math. She is now working on a book about the hymns of the church.