Donna Gene Mann Harrah, 81, died peacefully on Friday, July 10, 2026, surrounded by her family.

Donna never claimed her story was easy, and she never claimed she'd done it alone — but no one who knew her doubted how hard she worked for every inch of it. She was not born into privilege. A young mother before she could finish high school, she at times worked three jobs at once. Her children never had to wonder if she loved them. As a young woman she couldn’t afford a car, so she rode a motorcycle — and not timidly. She raced it at the old dirt track in Newport News.

Donna was born October 6, 1944, in Newport News, Virginia, to Gene Mann and Daisy Underwood, and grew up there, attending Warwick High School. She began her career as a bookkeeper and earned her way up to Chief Financial Officer of the H.W. Roberson Company, at the time the largest home builder on the Virginia Peninsula, where she helped oversee the construction of thousands of homes. She then struck out on her own, founding Peninsula Land Development and Riverpoint Builders, building and selling hundreds more houses. She also purchased and built up the M.C. Peters Cabinet Shop, first with her former husband Darrell Harrah Sr. and then with Dennis Nichols. In an industry with few women, and fewer still at the top, she made it a priority to teach and support the many women she hired and supervised, opening doors for them that few had opened for her. She fought, with all her determination, to ensure that her family would have a more certain life than the one she had known growing up.

Those who knew Donna knew two sides of her, and both were entirely real. There was the sweet, traditional homemaker and wife whose kitchen was always open and whose hug was always waiting. And there was the matriarch — vibrant, strong, and unbowed — the self-made businesswoman who ran companies, raised a family, and welcomed the whole world with genuine warmth. She was full of life and always ready for the next adventure.

One of her greatest adventures was the 37 years she shared her life and her work with her husband, Dennis, himself a contractor and her longtime partner at Riverpoint Builders — and he will tell you himself how much he learned from her. She treasured her time with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, but some of her happiest hours were also the quiet ones: alone with Dennis at home, or off together on a day trip, a weekend away, or a longer journey.

Still, Donna was never more herself than as a grandmother. Each of her four children blessed her with a pair of grandchildren, and “MawMaw” was there for all of it: every birthday, every school function and graduation, every worry and every adventure, from the morning each was born through every Christmas morning and day after.

Her faith anchored everything. She was a faithful member of Smithfield Christian Church. God was in her conversations, her decisions, and the way she treated people; you didn’t have to know Donna long to know Whose she was. She believed Christ was the answer to every struggle, doubt, and fear, and her family takes comfort knowing she is resting in His arms now.

Donna met the last chapter of her life the way she met every hard thing before it — with courage, grit, and grace. Her family is especially grateful to Dennis and to her daughter-in-law, Drina, whose devoted care and advocacy allowed her to pass peacefully in the company of the people she loved.

Donna was preceded in death by her parents; her grandparents, Ruth and Ted Underwood (who helped raise Donna and her beloved sister Lorraine); her brother, David Mann; and her former husband Darrell Harrah Sr.

In addition to her husband, Dennis Nichols, Donna is survived by her sisters, Lorraine Carl and Tracy Barret; her four children, Kimberly Harrah, Leonard Bennett (Drina), Dawn Chaffer, and Darrell Harrah Jr. (Viera); her stepson, Philip Nichols; eight grandchildren, Kendall Carrithers, Gregory Chaffer Jr. (Jordan), Taylor Dashiell (Jered), Sydney Smith, Paul Bennett Northam, William Harrah, Max Harrah, and Leo Bennett Northam; five great-grandchildren, Jaxon Lowman, Haddie Chaffer, Lucy Chaffer, Ashby Dashiell, and Lily Dashiell; other family, including her cousins, Janet Hale and Judy Foster; Dennis’s family, which became her own; and her close friends, Tara Curran and Tina Eley.

Formal visitation with family will be Friday, July 17, 2026, from noon to 1 p.m. at Smithfield Christian Church, 18420 Battery Park Rd., Smithfield, VA 23430, with a Celebration of Life Service at 1 p.m.

The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to the Smithfield Christian Church (smithfieldchristian.com).