Danna Gail Hardt, 78, formerly of Ottumwa, died at 6:55 p.m. April 1, 2023 at Serenity House Hospice in Oskaloosa, IA.
She was born May 13, 1944 in San Antonio, TX to James Warren and Ora Mercile Haley Hardt. Danna married John I. Hyten Jr. and they later divorced.
Danna was a beauty pageant contestant and was crowned as Miss Pinal County when she was 18 years old. She graduated from high school in Coolidge, AZ in 1962. She worked as a bookkeeper in California and Texas and earned a Licensed Vocational Nurse certificate while living in Texas. She worked as an LVN taking care of terminally ill patients at Arlington Memorial Hospital as well as infants and toddlers while living in California. Living in California, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Ohio and the Canary Islands, Danna moved to Iowa in 2001. She worked as a tax preparer for Liberty Tax and for Bud Heckart & Sons.
Her faith was very important to her as she was baptized as a Jehovah’s Witness and attended the Ottumwa Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Danna loved going out in field service and provided her skills as LVN on Kingdom Hall building crews. She loved ministering to others and leading others to the Lord.
Danna had been a seamstress since she was in junior high school and she enjoyed sewing, knitting, crocheting and quilting. She also enjoyed reading, playing 50’s and 60’s music, all games including cribbage, playing cards, crosswords and word puzzles. She especially loved spending time with family and friends.
Surviving is her daughter, Samantha (Matt) Heckart of Ottumwa; 4 grandchildren, Blake Smith, Alexa Heckart, Samantha (Kevin) Gerken and Amanda Heckart; 6 great-grandchildren, Layla, Levi, Gunner, Waylon, Tessa and Maren; siblings, Marcia (Jay) Aschendorf of Foley, AL and Jamie Renfree of Anderson, CA; 4 nieces and 2 nephews.
Danna was preceded in death by her parents; a sister, Lynda Haley and a niece, Connie Haley.
Visitation will be open at 11 a.m. Friday, April 7th, at Reece Funeral Home with the family present to greet friends from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday.
Funeral services will be 3 p.m. Saturday, April 8th, at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Ottumwa. Cremation will follow the services.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Ottumwa, Serenity House in Oskaloosa or Heartland Humane Society in Ottumwa.
