Marilyn Yvonne Cunningham Donaldson in Savannah, Georgia, on Monday, March 30.2026.

Marilyn was born August 18, 1936, in West Blocton, Alabama, the eldest child of John Jackson Cunningham and Annie Louise Moan Cunningham. Her family moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1938, where she lived until she married in 1959. Yvonne graduated from Tucson High School in 1954 and earned her Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Arizona in 1959. At the University, she was a member of Alpha Chi Omega. While modeling in a Panhellenic fashion show for her sorority, she met Phil Donaldson, one of the handsome Air Force cadets serving as escorts for the models. They began dating and 9 months later, nearing the completion of his duties at Davis-Monthan Air Force base, he asked Yvonne to be his wife and to accompany him back to his hometown of Savannah, Georgia, where his family's restaurant business awaited.

After their marriage in 1959, Yvonne put her business degree to work by helping with the bookkeeping at the family businesses, Johnny Harris Restaurant and the Barbeque Sauce Company. Her only child, Julie, was born in 1961, and Yvonne dedicated her life to her husband and family. Affectionately known as "Grammy'' to her grandchildren, she was a constant and loving presence in their lives. She was an avid reader and enjoyed historical novels. She was a long-time member of the Huntingdon Junior Women's Club and maintained close friendships with those ladies for many years. With her green thumb, she excelled at all types of gardening and could frequently be found outside trimming blooms off of her beautiful rose bushes and camellias that grew all over her Isle of Hope property and after her home on Wiley Bottom Road. An animal lover, she doted on her loving Maltipoo and constant companion Wynnie and tuxedo cat, Willow.

Yvonne and Phil loved to travel! and explored many parts of the world together. Over the years they enjoyed second homes in Tybee, Sea Pines, SC, Lake Toxaway and Clyde, NC, North Palm Beach, Florida and Windmill Harbour near Hilton Head. They enjoyed meeting new people and easily made life-long friends wherever they went. Her later years were spent at their home in The Landings, where they had moved during Phil's illness to be closer to family.

Yvonne will be greatly missed by her precious daughter, Julie Donaldson Lowenthal of Savannah. She also leaves a much-loved son-in-law, B.J. Lowenthal, Jr., and the loves of her life, her grandsons, Corbin (Christen), Brennan (Chrissy), and Grayson, and her namesake granddaughter, Peyton Yvonne. She also leaves her darling great-grandchildren, Madeline, August, Phoebe Moon, Sullivan, Ridley Parker, and Jacquelyn and Evelyn Yvonne Lowenthal. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Phil Donaldson; her brother, John Jackson Cunningham, Jr.; and her sister, Patricia Cunningham Carter.

Special thanks to her doctor, Pam Gaudry, and her wonderful caregivers, led by Erica Lang: Debbie, Gloria, Angie, Erica 2, and Bev.
A private graveside was held in Bonaventure Cemetery.

The family requests remembrances be made to Humane Society of Savannah or a charity of their choice.