Donna L. Pereira

Donna Louise (Westgate) Pereira, left this earthly realm to rest in heavenly peace in the early morning hours of March 2, 2024. She was cared for by family throughout the end of her life and surrounded by family at the time of her passing. Donna had suffered with microvascular dementia/Alzheimer’s and congestive heart failure. Donna was an only child, born to Alva and Marguerite (Haynes) Westgate, on June 24, 1949. After graduating from Mattanawcook Academy in 1967, she attended Licensed Practical Nursing School at St. Joseph’s in Bangor, graduating in 1968, where she excelled in nursing school. In 1983, she returned to St. Joseph’s nursing school to earn her diploma certification as a Registered Nurse. Throughout her career as a medical professional for almost five decades, Donna worked at Workman Hospital and Penobscot Valley Hospital in Lincoln, from 1968 until 1991, when she transferred to Millinocket Regional Hospital. After a 5 year stint there, she ended up working various jobs with Colonial Healthcare as a nurse manager, Markland (Home Health) Enterprises, and ended her career as a nurse with Beacon Hospice. At Beacon, Donna answered a calling to help patients and their families comfortably transition through the dying process. In addition to being a nurse, Donna was certified as an Emergency Medical Technician, allowing her to treat people brought to the hospital via ambulance. She was proud of the medical professional she was, taking pride in caring and in advocating for all of her patients and their families, even if that meant taking on a medical provider or institution to make sure her patients received the care they deserved. She was proud of all the people she was able to teach, assist, and encourage to further their profession in the medical field. In addition to her profession, she was a devoted, protective mother, who worked the night shift in order to see her only daughter, Marguerite, perform in musicals, dance recitals, bowling matches, and all her endeavors. Donna was especially proud of her grandchildren, boasting and bragging in true “Mimi” fashion everywhere she went, sharing her love of her granddaughters and all their accomplishments with everyone she saw and met.

Donna is survived her daughter, Marguerite (Pereira) Tilton and her husband, Bryan, of Lincoln, and she is survived by her six granddaughters, Savannah Tilton, of Southwest Harbor, Maine; Adrianna Tilton, Natalie Tilton, and Emily Tilton, all of Lincoln, Maine; Michelle Tilton of Alaska; Stephanie Tilton of Tennessee; as well as her great-grandchildren, Charlotte and Seamus Sibley, and Malachi Tilton. Donna is survived by several cousins, the Danes and Tates, the Gerrys and Sabols, the Delanos, and especially her Clark family in Maine, Massachusetts; Rhode Island, and Connecticut, including her special “Boston Family”. Donna was predeceased by her parents and an older infant brother.

Visiting hours will be Friday, March 8, 2024, from 6 pm to 8 pm, at Lamson Funeral Home, Lee Rd., Lincoln. The funeral service will be held Saturday, March 9, 2024, at noon in the same location. A gathering to celebrate Donna’s life will be held immediately after the funeral service.

In lieu of flowers, Donna and her family would appreciate donations made in her memory to either Camp Sunshine, Sebago Lake, Casco, Maine, or to the Maine Children’s Cancer Program, Scarborough, Maine. These organizations hold a special place in Donna, and her family’s, hearts. Messages of condolence may be expressed at Donna’s Book of Memories at www.lamsonfh.com.