Donald "Donnie" Hart, 86 of Shenandoah passed away on March 13, 2018 at the Elm Heights Care Center in Shenandoah.

Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, March 17, 2018 at 10:30 a.m. at the Hackett-Livingston Funeral in Shenandoah. Burial will follow in the Rose Hill Cemetery.

Memorials may be directed to The Shriner's Hospital or People 4 Paws.

Donald Wayne Hart was born on January 25, 1932, to Ruth Elvira (Anderson) Hart and Verner Allen Hart in St. Joseph, Missouri. He grew up on the farm north of Northboro, Iowa and attended North Star Country School. He was baptized at the United Methodist Church. In March of 1944, the family moved to the farm south of Coin. He attended school in Coin, playing football and participating in band. The family attended and became members of the Coin United Methodist Church. He graduated from Coin High School in 1950 as Valedictorian.

Following graduation he worked on the farm with his father and checked grain bins in the Coin and Hepburn areas through the ASC program. In 1952, Donnie worked as Deputy for the Page County Treasurers office. On December 1, 1954, Donnie took a job at the Security Trust and Savings Bank in Shenandoah and relocated there. It was at the bank where he met the love of his life, Shirley Malmberg. She was an employee of the bank and trained Donnie on the job. They married on June 10, 1956 at the Baptist Church in Shenandoah, Iowa and soon after became members of the First United Methodist Church in Shenandoah.

On June 14, 1958 their daughter Sandra Kay was born. On January 5, 1989, Donnie and Shirley were blessed with a granddaughter, Megan Michelle Hall, born to Sandra and husband Michael. She was their pride and joy. Donnie began immediately preparing for Megan's future by taking out a life insurance policy for her and buying Savings Bonds for her college education. He wanted to make sure that she would have an excellent education and that she would be able to start her working life someday without debt as he had done for his daughter Sandra.

Donnie, Shirley, Sandra, Mike and Megan were a very close family. They had developed a bond with each other that could never be broken. They, along with Donnie's parents Ruth and Verner and his Aunt Mabel and Uncle Rex Alderson went together on annual fishing trips to Minnesota or Canada. They had many fun and memorable moments from these trips together. Donnie enjoyed spending time with his family and friends playing cards, collecting coins, farming, watching football and listening to the Kansas City Royals on the radio. He was a very wise and generous husband, father, grandfather and friend. He was very special to his family and always supportive of them.

Donnie remained at the Security Trust and Savings Bank, becoming Vice President until his retirement on March 1, 1997. He enjoyed helping people in the community, many of them his friends, with farm loans through the bank. Following retirement the couple did some traveling, which they enjoyed. Donnie was very devoted to care for Shirley, even after she entered the nursing home. He was always there for her.

Donnie was a member of the Elks and Lions Club and the First United Methodist Church in Shenandoah. Donnie entered Elm Heights Care Center on March 7, 2018 following declining health. He entered into eternal rest on March 13, 2018, 22 minutes before midnight on the night before his beloved wife's Shirley's birthday. They were reunited on what would have been her 83rd birthday.

Donnie was preceded in death by his wife Shirley in 2014; parents Verner and Ruth Hart; mother and father-in-law Harold and Hazel Malmberg; brothers-in-law Ronald Malmberg and wives Colene and Diana and Stephen Malmberg and niece Julie Malmberg.

Those left to cherish his memory include his daughter Sandra Hall and husband Michael of Coin, IA; granddaughter Megan Deinert and husband Scott of Lincoln, NE; cousins Duane and Marj Hart of Arvada, CO and Joyce Athen of Shenandoah, IA; brother and sister-in-law's Glen and Sandy Malmberg of Jacksonville, FL, Roger and Judy Malmberg of Audubon, IA, Darrell Malmberg of Bellevue, NE, David and Danna Malmberg of Papillion, NE; many nieces, nephews, other relatives and a host of friends.