Donna Enick

Donna Enick loved golfing. Rain or shine, you could find her on the course, practising her swing on the driving range and putting green. Most elite golfers start when they are kids, but not Donna. She didn’t even pick up the game seriously until she was in her mid-40s.

Donna went on to become a 35-year member of the Royal Regina Golf Club, winning many tournaments along the way. In 2005, she competed in the World Masters Games in Edmonton, playing alongside golfers from across the globe. She won a gold medal in her age range, one of her crowning accomplishments.

The sport took Donna around the country, but it was the friendships she made that she valued most. One year, her daughter managed to surprise her for the Canadian Women’s Senior Championship in Winnipeg by bringing Donna’s best friend without her knowing.

“The friend showed up and said, ‘Hey do you need a caddie!’” says Darcy Enick-Garbutt. “She was so thrilled, and to actually have that caddie experience was special for her.”

Donna lived just as full a life off the course. She was an operating room nurse who served her community for 40 years, demonstrating compassion, and a caring attitude that translated into her everyday interactions with her two children Darcy and Chris, her grandchildren, her sisters, and her husband, Bayne. Donna will be remembered as someone that everybody could count on.

“It was just an everyday part of her character. You could come home from school with a problem, and she was always there lending a listening ear,” Darcy says. “There was never quick judgement.”

It made her someone everyone looked up to, both on and off the course.

This story was first published in MacLean’s as part of a collaborative project with Canadian journalism schools to document the lives of people who have died from COVID-19. To learn more about the project and to read the other obituaries, click here.