Donna Clark Godfrey, 71, of Yarmouth and formerly of Raymond,MA passed away on May 3, 2015, at Gosnell Memorial Hospice House in Scarborough, from a nine-week battle with cancer.

Donna was the mother of two loving children, Donald and Deborah Perkins, both of Maine.

Born in New York state on April 21, 1944, Donna was the daughter of the late Donald Clark Godfrey and Ellen Pegues Godfrey. Donna never knew her biological father who died on a training flight as a navigator-bombardier in the U.S. Army Air Corps. The 22-year-old airman left behind a newly-pregnant wife. He and Donna’s mother were married only five months.

Donna grew up in New Jersey and came to Maine in 1962 to attend the University of Maine at Orono where she received a teaching degree. She immediately fell in love with the Pine Tree state’s beautiful landscape and friendly people, deciding to call it her home for the next 53 years.

After a divorce, Donna returned to higher education and received a Master’s Degree from the University of Southern Maine. As a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, Donna helped countless individuals, children, and couples through life’s many challenges over her nearly 30-year career. In the 2000s, she was a guidance counselor for the Old Orchard Beach School District. With a longtime private practice in Yarmouth, Donna was still counseling on a part-time basis right up to her cancer diagnosis this past winter.

Donna loved music and the arts. During the 1960s in high school and college, she was known among her friends for being able to tell any popular song by the first note alone. In the 1980s, she sang with the Portland Symphony Chorus and practiced ballet.

Besides good times with family, Donna enjoyed reading, walking the beach, and daily meditation and reflection near the waters of Sebago Lake and Casco Bay. Later in life, Donna savored times with her granddaughter, Ada Stenhouse, and boating on Sebago Lake on her son’s custom-built boat.