Donna Irene Sasselli was born April 24,1943 in Selma, California. She lived all her life in the Selma area. She went to her Heavenly home Monday, January 16, 2023.

She was one of three children born to Dock and Irene Jackson who relocated to California from Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl.

Donna attended Conejo Grammar School and Laton High School where she graduated as both a lifelong California Scholarship Federation Member and the Valedictorian of her 1961 graduating class. Following high school, she attended Reedley College and California State University, Fresno where she earned her degree as well as a teaching credential.

While in college, Donna took a summer position as a restaurant server at Lakeshore Resort in Huntington Lake. This inspired her lifelong dream of owning a vacation home in the mountains. A dream that was realized in 2001.

At the age of twenty-two, Donna began a thirty-three year long teaching career at Wilson School in Selma. She believed in teaching the fundamentals; reading, writing, arithmetic, geography and history. For several years, she was the Director of the Selma Unified School District Spelling Bee. An event she looked forward to each year.

From a young age, Donna had a need for speed. She could often be seen, after church, street racing out in the country in her Ford Fairlane GT, beating the boys. It was after a race she met her future husband, Myrel Sasselli at Fosters Freeze in Selma. He walked up and told her he wanted a ride in that car. They were married June 30,1967, less than a year later.

Her love of racing continued throughout her life. She enjoyed traveling to different race tracks in the western states following her favorite Super Modified drivers. Later, she and Myrel owned several race cars; karts, micros, full midgets, and sprint cars all driven by their daughter, Audra. Later, she became a proud grandmother when her granddaughter, Gianna began her racing career. She was a devoted race mom and grandma, always with her clipboard, keeping statistics and meticulous notes.

Donna was known to throw elaborate holiday parties. She loved to entertain and spend time with her family and friends. In addition to entertaining, she enjoyed going out to dinner, shopping with her daughter and granddaughter, and completing Sudoku puzzles. She was a prize winning cross-stitcher and a proud member of the Cherokee Nation.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Dock and Irene Jackson and her brother Charles Jackson. She is survived by her loving husband of fifty-five years, Myrel Sasselli, Jr, of Selma; her only child, Audra Sasselli Thornburg and her husband Chris,of Selma; One grandchild, Gianna Irene Thonburg, of Selma; and her brother Jerry Jackson and his wife Carrol of Modesto; in addition to multiple nieces, nephews, cousins, and dear friends.