Donna Mae Holt Bright, 90, of The Villages in Florida, passed away on Tuesday, June 23, 2026 after a four-year battle with Multiple Myeloma. She was preceded in death by her husband, Richard (Dick) Eugene Bright, who passed away suddenly in March of 2023.

Donna was born in Columbus, OH. She grew up in New Lexington, OH, where she lived with her mother and father, Bertha and Donald Holt, and with her maternal grandmother, Della Mae Laipply. Donna was an avid dancer who received a scholarship to dance at Ohio State University. However, she left to study education at MacMurray College, in Illinois, where she received a BA. She taught the lower grades of elementary school in Cleveland, OH, where she met her husband, Richard (Dick) Eugene Bright. They married and moved to Chicago, IL, where Dick had a job with IBM. Together, they raised two daughters, moving to Ridgefield, CT and then to Paris, France, before moving to Florida, where they lived in Boca Raton, FL and Delray Beach, FL in the 1990s. Donna had studied oil painting in Paris and obtained a BA in Art from Florida Atlantic University, where she learned additional mediums and styles of painting. Donna and Dick eventually moved to The Villages, Florida, in 2006.

Donna loved painting, art history, golfing, traveling, birding, and raising standard poodles. She was a member of the PEO sorority, involved in chapters both in Delray Beach, where she served as president for a period of time, and in The Villages. She and Dick were very involved with the American and Foreign Christian Union (AFCU), which supports the American Church of Paris, the American Church of Berlin, and the Vienna Community Church. She also assisted Dick in leading The Villages’ Diabetes Support Group.

Donna is survived by her daughters, Julie Bright Stewart and Kathleen Bright Levin, her son-in-law, Daniel Stewart, and her grandchildren, William Stewart and Richard Levin. Her beloved poodle, Kaeley, will be moving to New Jersey to live with Julie’s family.

A memorial service is being planned for a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations in Donna’s memory may be made to the Multiple Myeloma Research or to the American Breast Cancer Foundation. Arrangements are being entrusted with Baldwin Brothers Funeral and Cremation Society-Spanish Springs, 352-430-1449. Sentiments are encouraged at: www.baldwincremation.com.