Michael Doneen

Michael J. “Mike” Doneen passed away peacefully on July 30, 2025, surrounded by his three children. Mike was born in 1933 in Wenatchee, WA. As a third-generation Badger Mountain wheat farmer, he started working on the family farm at a young age. He attended the one-room schoolhouse on Badger Mountain, Beaver Creek School, until it closed in 1945. He transitioned to school in town, graduating from Wenatchee High School in 1952. He began college at Wenatchee Valley College, then moved to Ellensburg to attend Central Washington University. He met and married his wife, Valerie Starcevich, in 1959 and graduated the following year with a degree in Economics. Mike and Val moved back to East Wenatchee, and Mike began his 60-year wheat farming career on the family farm. In 1964, he was elected as a Douglas County PUD Commissioner, when Wells Dam was still under construction. He was re-elected to six more 6-year terms, serving a total of 42 years. He was a strong advocate of public power and presided as president of the Washington PUD Association and the Northwest Public Power Association during his tenure. He received numerous Lifetime Achievement awards from public power organizations upon his retirement. Outside of farming and his PUD duties, he had many other interests and hobbies. Known as “the mule man,” he always kept mules at the ranch where he saddled them up for an annual elk hunting excursion in the Taneum area (near Cle Elum) with his father-in-law, sons and other relatives. The other 51 weeks of the year, the mules ate grass and adorned the pasture. After Pat and Tim shot the windows out of a rusty 38 Chevy that had been abandoned in his sagebrush, he painstakingly restored it to its original glory, well before you could find parts on the internet. He won first place in the Classy Chassis and Apple Blossom parades, proudly driving that car. Other things he enjoyed were Sunday night dinners with their friend group (aka “the gang”), and meeting and talking with people wherever he went. He and Val traveled to Ireland with his sister and cousins to research their family roots. He could build or repair anything and was a perfectionist when it came to craftsmanship. Val had many winter home projects that kept him busy when he wasn’t farming. Mike is preceded in death by his wife of 61 years, Val, as well as his parents. Mike and Val have three children and eight grandchildren. His oldest son, Tim, and his wife Pam have 3 children: Cameron, Collin and Adele. Pat and his wife Nailia have two children, Max and Nicholas. His daughter Molly (Simpson) and her husband Rob have three children, Rachel (husband Isaiah), Ethan, and Emma. Funeral services will be held at Holy Apostles Catholic Church in East Wenatchee on Friday, August 8, at 10:00 a.m., with a reception to follow in the church hall. A graveside service will be held Saturday, August 9 at 9:00 a.m. at Evergreen Memorial Park. A Rosary will take place Thursday, August 7 at 6:00 p.m. at Chapel of the Valley. Arrangements by Chapel of the Valley, East Wenatchee.

Michael Doneen

September 11, 1933 - July 30, 2025