Donna Frank Olinger
Donna Frank Olinger was born on October 9, 1943, to Herman and Helen Frank, and was raised in Fresno, Ohio. She died after a short hospital stay on January 26, 2025.
Growing up in the Frank household as one of eleven children (Richard, Ernest, Esther, Albert, Harold, Norma, Harry, Larry, Teresa, and Donald), she happily recounted learning to throw a ball like a boy from playing with her brothers. She also recalled how she never wanted to miss school because that meant a hard day’s work at home.
She and her sister Norma were cheerleaders for Fresno High School’s 1959–1960 Coshocton Country championship basketball team, the point guard being her future husband, Darrell Olinger. A son, Danny, was born in 1964, and a daughter, Darylynn Denise, was born in 1966.
The couple divorced in 1972. Looking to her parents for help in raising her two young children, she moved back to the family farm, her father giving her land for a home. She took a job at Pretty Products working the midnight shift so that she could participate in her children’s school and sports activities. She rarely, if ever, missed work or one of Danny or Darylynn’s games.
During the 1980s, Donna took up running, often putting in more than 100 miles a week on the dirt roads surrounding her home. In the 1990s, she ran in major marathons, including finishing second in her age group at the Cleveland Revco Marathon and being listed in Runner’s World. During this period, she also enrolled in evening classes at Central Ohio Technical College and earned a Licensed Practical Nurse degree.
She is survived by her son, Danny and his wife, Diane Croy Olinger, and their children, Katharine, Daniel, Kristin, and David; her daughter, Darylynn and her husband, Andrew Ross, and their children, Thadeus, and Gabriella Ross Padilla and her husband Juan; her brothers, Richard, Albert, Harold, Harry, and Donald, and her sisters Norma and Teresa.
Calling hours will be held on Monday, February 3, 2025, from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm at Given-Dawson-Paisley Funeral Home. A funeral service will follow at 12:00 pm with Donna’s son, Danny Olinger officiating. Burial will be held at Coshocton County Memory Gardens.
An online memorial can be found at www.given-dawson-paisleyfh.com.
Category: Obituaries
