Donna Beth (Heap) Harrison

  After 89 11/12 years of lively living, Donna Beth Heap Harrison of Emmett, Idaho, was escorted to Paradise by the eager hands of her mother, her father, her brother (Charles Bud Heap), and two of her grandsons (Shane Michael Harrison and Michael Dee Harrison). Also cheering her home was a multitude of extended family and friends whom she talked of often with sparkles and mischief in her little brown eyes.
  Mom was born in Boise, Ada County, Idaho on January 25, 1936 to Theron Charles Heap and Merle Effie Butler Heap Hansen. She joined her brother, Charles Bud Heap, who teased and tortured her endlessly as a big brother should. As her father was a cat skinner, they moved often to follow the available work and eventually settled in Garden Valley, Idaho, where they lived in the mountains until she was in the 8th grade. She was so proud to be from Garden Valley! She told of walking three-four miles by herself to play dollies with her friend. She also spent many days in the safety of the meadow, watching her daddy work with the crew that cut the road out of the mountains between Garden Valley and Lowman. Many times, she saw dynamite change the backdrop of her childhood as the establishment of the roadway progressed. A highlight of her Garden Valley days were the Saturday night dances, when families would gather at the community center and dance, have a potluck dinner, and dance some more, usually until dawn.
  The family moved to Emmett, Idaho to be closer to medical care for her brother, who contracted polio while he was in high school. Mom and her mother took care of Bud around the clock in order to allow him to live at home. The horrible disease actually facilitated a remarkable, unyielding bond between Mom and her brother, and that bond held fast until Bud’s death in 1981.
  While caring for her brother, Mom was also involved in many high school organizations. She was a cheerleader and she was homecoming queen. She performed her “Alley-Oop-a-Zoop-a-Zam!” cheer for anyone who would watch and listen, but as the years passed by, she eliminated the little jump! at the end. She often entertained with a song her grandpa taught her about her little pig curling up his tail in the mud. How we laughed and laughed when she sang that song!
  Mom married our father, Donald De Harrison, on June 4, 1954 in Emmett, Idaho, and they lived in the Emmett area their entire married lives. While Dad worked, Mom was one of the best homemakers we could have ever hoped for. She worked just as hard as Dad while raising nine children on a farm in the country, and she showed us all how to work so very, very hard and always do our best. She baked the tastiest homemade bread this side of the Pecos, and she could butcher, pluck, skin and cut up a chicken, all while holding the newest baby in the litter.
  While in Emmett, her daddy got a job as an oil salesman and a diesel mechanic. As an oil salesman, he drove a fuel truck around the area and when he was 44 years old, he was killed in a fuel truck crash between Emmett and Sweet. Mom never got over the death of her father. Her mother passed in 1995, leaving Mom as the last one standing from her own family.
  After her children were grown, Mom worked at Grider’s Greenhouses and at the U.S. Post Office in Emmett. She loved the friends she found along the way in her work and play.
  Mom was the mother of and leaves behind Michael Ray Harrison (Kathy Vaughan), Cheryl Jenkins, Cozette Helmick (Wally), Vonni Domme, Noreen Buchanan (Jason), Renae Scott (Kemo), Chuck Harrison (Tanya), Rachel Tooley, and Stewart “Bud” Harrison (Shadae). From her brood came grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren, the numbers of which keep increasing to a point where we have lost count. Mother always said that the best thing she ever did was to have children, and she expressed over and again how proud she was of each one of them. She beamed at her legacy and has left them with a level of love that exceeds their dreams.
  A Celebration of Life for our mother will be held on Saturday, January 3, 2026 at Elements Kitchen & Bar, 1825 Highway 16, Emmett, Idaho from 3pm to 5pm. We welcome each of you who would like to share memories of Mom.
  A private family-only viewing will be held at 2 PM that same day, just prior to the Celebration, at Potter Funeral Chapel, 228 E Main St., Emmett ID.
  We extend our profound gratitude to the staff at The Cottages of Emmett, Idaho for their tender care to our mother for the past year. Despite her efforts to make you think otherwise, she really did enjoy her stay and she appreciated and loved the staff, along with the friends she made while there.
  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Mom’s name to the Pet Adoption League, 1526 N Washington Ave., Emmett ID 83617; telephone (208) 365-1359.
  Mom, we love you endlessly, and we wish you a joyous heavenly journey until we meet again. We will try each day to make you proud, just like your daddy was of you.

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