The Rev. Donna Fonner will lead the Sunday, Aug. 4 service at Wilson Memorial Chapel on Ocean Point. Music will be provided by the renowned Maine duo Castlebay. Castlebay weaves together the heritage of New England with Celtic lands in their ballads; their music transcends time and place. The service is at 9:30 a.m. All are welcome!

Rev. Fonner is a graduate of Augustana College (1974, AB Social Science), Marycrest College (1981, Elementary and Secondary Education), University of Iowa (2003, MA Rehabilitation Counseling with a specialty in Disability Law and Ethics), and Wartburg Theological Seminary (2014, Master of Divinity). She is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and served churches in Plainview and Creighton, Nebraska, for almost eight years. Rev. Fonner retired from full-time ministry in July of 2021 and now is busy doing pulpit supply for churches near her home in Eleva, Wisconsin.

Before entering the ministry, Rev. Fonner taught for a number of years. In 1987, Rev. Fonner began working with low-income and dislocated workers and persons with disabilities as a pre-vocational counselor in Illinois. In 1998, she began her career with the state of Iowa which lasted for over 22 years – first as an employment specialist and then in 1998 becoming a rehabilitation counselor. As a rehabilitation counselor, she became one of six “Ticket to Work” counselors in Iowa as part of a national pilot program helping persons receiving SSI/SSDI payments to return to the workforce and wrote both the policies and the procedures for the Iowa program and teaching the same to other pilot states across the nation. In 2006, Rev. Fonner became a child protective worker and dependent adult abuse investigator.

During Rev. Fonner’s tenure with the state of Iowa, she was part-time radio broadcaster for WDLM in East Moline (part of the Moody Broadcasting Network). She also spent three weeks every summer for 15 years working as a camp counselor and program director for Lake Geneva Christian Youth Camp, a non-denominational Christian program in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. After retiring in June of 2010, Rev. Fonner answered the call she had received as a confirmation student in1963 and entered Wartburg Seminary on her journey to become an ordained pastor.  

Rev. Fonner and her husband, Thomas (better known as Chris), live in Eleva, Wisconsin. Chris is a retired nuclear engineer. Rev. Fonner has two daughters, Laura, a retired conservation police officer, and Rachel, an assistant principal. She has five grandchildren ranging in age from 12 to 24.

In retirement, the Fonners enjoy traveling around the world, assisting at their home church in different areas, and visiting family and friends across the United States. Rev. Fonner also is enjoying time to pursue her love of quilting.