Donita Kay Harguess

Donita Kay Harguess died peacefully on Saturday, January 17, 2026, at her home in Scenic, AZ with her husband Jerry at her side while watching her granddaughters on livestream at a high school basketball game.

Donita was born on October 24, 1950, in Silverton, Oregon to George and Frances (Roth) Bond and grew up on a dairy farm in Monitor, OR as a middle child of 5 siblings. She learned many valuable life lessons growing up on a family farm.

After graduating from Canby, OR High School in 1968, she enrolled at Biola University located in Southern California. After one year in California, she grew homesick and transferred to Western Oregon University, in Monmouth, OR. Later in life she went back to Chemeketa Community College in Salem, OR and earned an associate’s degree in graphic arts. With a degree in hand, she began her career as a graphic artist working at the Woodburn Independent, the local newspaper, until her retirement.

 In 1970 she met her future husband Jerry Harguess while working summer jobs at the local fruit cannery in Woodburn, OR. The couple were married on August 5, 1972, in Aurora, OR and were married for 53 years. In 1975 they were blessed with their first child a baby boy, Adrian and followed by a precious baby girl, Crystal in 1978. Donita and Jerry raised their 2 children in Hubbard, Oregon. Upon their kids graduating from high school and moving out of the house, they built their first new home together near Turner, Oregon in 1996. Adrian and his wife Rhonda gave birth to twin daughters, Mckenzie and Owyhee in 2008. When Jerry retired in 2015, they made the move to Enterprise, OR where they built their second new home, just down the street from the granddaughters. In 2017 after enduring a hard winter in Enterprise they decided to become “snowbirds” and travelled to Mesquite, NV every winter thereafter. They moved full time to the desert in 2022 and built their third home together in Scenic, Arizona. All the years of Donita watching home improvement shows paid off as Donita and Jerry enjoyed the process of designing, building and decorating their 3 new homes.

After going through open heart surgery on her Birthday in October 2024, she recovered with the help of her unwavering faith in God and determination to take full advantage of the extra time she was given. With this additional time, she found a renewed purpose of sharing her faith with others and loving the people she was blessed to know.

She is preceded in death by her parents and survived by her husband Jerry, son and family Adrian, Rhonda, Mckenzie & Owyhee of Enterprise, OR and daughter Crystal of Mesquite, NV along with 4 siblings including her brother Dwight (Kathy) Bond of Oregon City and sisters, Diane (Tom) Garber of Dayton, WA, Delene (Mike) Simpson of Canby, OR and Georgia (Keith) Sams of Bonanza, OR. She has many beloved cousins, nieces, and nephews too numerous to list or count.

Donita was known for her love of attending bible studies, spending time with her devoted friends, flower gardening, artwork, painting, exercising and loving her precious cat Izzy. In recent years she fell in love with playing pickleball that combined two of her favorite things, exercising and socializing with friends.

She was a faithful prayer warrior to anyone in need and now she has gone home to be with Lord and Savior, Jesus.

A celebration of life service will be held on Sunday, February 15th at 11:00 AM at Calvary Chapel Mesquite, 1646 W Pioneer Blvd, Mesquite, NV 89034.