Donna Mae Mims
 

Has anyone heard if Donna Mae suffered a stroke and is in UPMC Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh? A fellow Yenko Stinger racer, Chuck Sadek heard that at a recent vintage race. Anyone have any info???

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

That is correct...

https://www.yenko.net/attachments/dmm.JPG

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

Wow...that's not good. I hope she fully recovers...and soon. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

Donna Mae fell ill Thursday, the first night of the reunion. She was to ride with me to the show, but she was not feeling well enough, and had a doctor visit the previous Monday. I met with her on Sunday so she could give me a few items for the reunion. It was a great shock to us all. If she would have come, she would have had this happen at the reunion. She is still hospitalized. If you would want to send cards I will post an address. John Conolley is handling her affairs at the moment...BKH https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/frown.gif

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

Per Bob McClurg....


Tomorrow, John Connolly will be taking Donna Mae to yet another home which he feels pretty confident about. Only time will tell. In the meantime, I would highly recommend that you send all cards and/or letters of correspondance to Donna Mae in care of Mr. John Connolly, 1158 Arrowood Dr. Pittsburgh, P.A. 15243, and let's all say a prayer this wonderful woman.

Cordially, Bob McClurg

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

[ QUOTE ]
Wow...that's not good. I hope she fully recovers...and soon. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Us too!

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

Just got word Ms. Mims died. Is this true? RIP.

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

http://www.ncrs.org/forums/showthrea...8&uid=2809

RIP

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

How unfortunate. May she rest in peace. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/frown.gif

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

This is terrible news. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/frown.gif May she rest in peace.

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

Donna Mae was a super cool lady. I had the pleasure of meeting her several times over the past 10-12 years, and she always had something interesting to say. We've lost a great person here, and another huge chapter of the Yenko story. She'll definitely always be remembered. May she rest in peace.

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

I spoke with John Connolly a short while ago, and here are the arrangements for Donna Mae...

Beinhauer Family Services (their location on Washington Road)
Viewing: Saturday 11am-8pm, Sunday 11am-8pm, Monday 10am-11am
Service: Monday 11am

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

Great excerpt from Brock Yates Book, in her own words:
http://books.google.com/books?id=kRkq9c2...ims&f=false

Paul

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

That she was... Super cool.......and a lasting legacy..

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

[ QUOTE ]
Donna Mae was a super cool lady. I had the pleasure of meeting her several times over the past 10-12 years, and she always had something interesting to say. We've lost a great person here, and another huge chapter of the Yenko story. She'll definitely always be remembered. May she rest in peace.

[/ QUOTE ]
I agree 100%...she was a dandy. Rest in peace, DMM...

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

Sorry to hear of her passing as she was one I had been wanting to meet. Rest in Peace

Rob, Mahalo for putting up a banner in her honor on the Main Page Looks great

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

My thoughts and prayers go out to her Family....she will certainly be missed https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/frown.gif

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

Donna Mae was indeed probably THE key to the Yenko story... Alot of folks say she knew more about what was going on at Yenko Sportscars in the late 60s and early 70s than Don himself... such a loss, and a really a sad, sad day.

Erik and I went to Latrobe a week before SCR this year to get a chance to talk to her again, show her some old photos and ask about some details of the good old old days at Yenko, her racing career, and anything else we could think of to bend her ear about... but something came up that day and she didn't make it in, se we didn't get a chance to visit with her. While we were both very disappointed, I never realized that was the last chance we'd ever have.

Over the next few days i plan to dig into my archives and post a few neat pieces of Donna Mae history, photos, artifacts, etc. as a tribute to a great lady. Some of the stuff has probably never been seen, and I'm kinda anxious to look at it again myself. I'll never forget her smiling and laughing with Ed Lowther and Hope Yenko at SCR1, and thought o myself even back then how cool it was to get a chance to talk to these folks who were right there from the beginning. We lost Ed a few years back, and now with the passing of Donna Mae it really makes me realize how much history has been lost with the passing of these folks. RIP Donna Mae Mimms, forever the "Pink Lady" of Racing.

-JB

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

The last meeting I had with Donna Mae she signed a special pink SCW shirt we had made for the auction. My family went along that day to meet her, and as always she was extra nice to me. My daughter who is 13 wants to race cars and was very excited to meet such a legendary gender breaking woman. Not many like her were driving race cars in those early days of the sport. She wanted to make sure I had a few items to take to the reunion, since she was not able to attend. She told me she had been feeling ill and was so disappointed she was unable to attend the SCR. Just a few weeks earlier I spent the entire day with her at the Steel City Corvette Clubs Chevrolet meet. I had David Boland's Royal Plum '67 Yenko, and she was so excited to see it. She was always willing to share her memories about her days with Yenko and always made sure she told you she "Never worked a day in her life" when she was with Yenko. "We did it for the love of the cars" she would say....Words that are 100% true, but are so often forgotten today. I will miss Donna Mae greatly....BKH https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/frown.gif
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h5...h/DSC_0006.jpg

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

Wow...Rest in Peace Donna https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/frown.gif

Thanks for the history everyone. She sounded like a really cool lady https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...s/headbang.gif

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

[ QUOTE ]


Over the next few days i plan to dig into my archives and post a few neat pieces of Donna Mae history, photos, artifacts, etc. as a tribute to a great lady.

-JB

[/ QUOTE ]

Looking forward to seeing it Joe.

May she rest in Peace.

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

As time marches on, bits and pieces of our past are lost, never to be replaced. I am sorry to have never met her, but she sounds like 'One of the Guys'. A dandy for sure and never to be replaced! Godspeed!!!!! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ins/3gears.gif

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

Rest in peace. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/frown.gif

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

Very bad news. Sorry to hear this. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/frown.gif

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

I had hoped to meet her at the reunion, a sad day indeed..

condoleneces to the family

ALbert

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

The last time I got to see Donna Mae was at our 40th Yenko Stinger Reunion a few years back. She was her usual fun loving self. Full of stories and memories. She was getting around great too. Who would have guessed....

She is and will be missed. May she rest in peace.

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

I had a chance to spend some time talking with her then as well.What a pleasure it was...Sad times, Rest in peace Donna.


Big

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

Following Brian’s invite to SCR12, I called Donna Mae to set things up, She was really excited about attending another SCR, telling me how much she enjoyed the first one. We had a nice visit, talking about a lot of things, even the 2010 Yenko Camaro project. She thought that sounded really neat.

I will really miss talking to her, as there always seemed to be excitement in her voice.

May she rest in peace.

Re: Donna Mae Mims
 

Here is a nice page with lots of great pictures, she was one of my kind (an autocrosser and road racer, not a drag racer).

http://www.pvgp.org/pvgp/cwp/view.asp?A=3&Q=276958

kool lady for sure

+ Donna Mae Mims on NPR +
 

On NPR radio a message was given on Donna Mae's final request.

http://www.npr.org/templates/player/medi...amp;m=113724530


It was Fantastic for me to meet her, and go over the letter I have, that she sent, and signed to Dana Chevrolet from Don Yenko to have the 3 Dana Corvair Stingers built.



Kasey

Re: + Donna Mae Mims on NPR +
 

Thanks for the link, Kasey!

[BTW: I'm merging some of this DMM info so it will be easier for everyone to find.]

Re: + Donna Mae Mims on NPR +
 

Here is the full obituary from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

------------------------------------------------------------

Donna Mae Mims, an eccentric champion race car driver who was portrayed in the Hollywood movie "The Cannonball Run," died Tuesday from complications from a series of strokes. She was 82.

Known as the Pink Lady of sports car racing because most of her cars were painted pink, Ms. Mims, whose maiden name was Warnock, graduated from Dormont High School in 1945. She first became interested in race cars when she and her husband, Mike, came upon an unusual-looking two-seater at a car dealership on West Liberty Avenue in the 1950s.

They came to learn that the car was a Corvette and later bought their first one at Kenny Ross Chevrolet.

"She said the thing she liked best about it was that her in-laws couldn't ride with them," said longtime friend Don Baker.

The couple bought their first fuel-injected Corvette at Yenko Chevrolet in Canonsburg, where she was an executive secretary and later the liaison for design and production with the Yenko sports car division.

Ms. Mims started racing cars with her friends from Yenko in 1960 and quickly became one of the top amateur race car drivers in the country. Ms. Mims, who had by then divorced her husband, became the first woman to win a Sports Car Club of America national racing championship in 1963, at the wheel of her pink Austin-Healey 1959 Bugeye Sprite that once had belonged to Dr. Jonas Salk.

"She was just racing for fun with her friends," said Dan DelBianco, the executive director of the Vintage Grand Prix and a friend of Ms. Mims. "At the final race she was told if she came in fifth place or better than she would be the champion. That was the only time she got nervous, she told me."

Ms. Mims also raced a pink Corvette, Corvair, Triumph TR3 and MGB.

"On the back of most of my cars I had 'THINK PINK,'" Ms. Mims told the Post-Gazette earlier this year. "I liked pink ever since I was a little girl."

Ms. Mims liked her pink Corvette so much that it was her dying wish to be laid out in it at Beinhauer Funeral Home in Peters. The car was being detailed yesterday and was going to be taken to the funeral home, where a viewing will take place tomorrow and Sunday.

"Nobody has ever done anything like this," said Aaron Beinhauer of Beinhauer Family Services. "But it was her wish. I talked to her personally about it three years ago."

Following the final visitation, friends are encouraged to drive their Corvettes to a reception at Bella Sera in Canonsburg.

Ms. Mims was well known in national and local auto racing circles. She volunteered at the annual Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix and often worked the starting grid so she could be close to the cars.

"She was a colorful person," Mr. DelBianco said. "She was just a joy to know, a real character."

Ms. Mims raced for 14 years and in 1972 took part in Brock Yates' original Cannonball Run Race, the cross-country outlaw road race that was made famous by the 1981 movie "The Cannonball Run," starring Burt Reynolds and Farrah Fawcett.

Ms. Mims, along with teammates Judy Stropus and Peggy Niemcek, borrowed a limousine from a friend, got some racing tires put on and used it on their trek.

"Most memorable is the ticketing event in the wee dark hours as we were pulled over by a Barney Fife look-a-like who claimed he'd been chasing us for 15 minutes at 115 miles per hour," Ms. Mims said in Mr. Yates' book "Cannonball: The World's Greatest Outlaw Road Race." "No bribe could corrupt this pure-hearted Don Knotts, and we were doomed to follow him to the magistrate."

Ms. Mims was taking a nap when the limo wrecked in Texas. The vehicle was totaled and the women were stuck, so they sold it and bought plane tickets home.

Mr. Baker said Ms. Mims often told the Cannonball Run stories when local organizations hired her as a guest speaker. One of the stories was about their sponsor for the race, the Right Bra Co. An official from Right Bra attended the pre-race festivities, and the women asked for bras to wear during the race.

When the official told them he didn't have any, they decided to do the race braless and wore tight-fitting shirts and pants. In the movie, actress Adrienne Barbeau portrayed Ms. Mims.

Ms. Mims was a member of the Sports Car Club of America and taught Sunday school as an active member in Mt. Lebanon United Methodist Church.

A viewing will take place tomorrow and Sunday from 2 to 8 at Beinhauer Funeral Home in Peters with an additional visitation from 10 to 11 a.m. Monday. Memorial contributions may be made to the National Corvette Museum, Bowling Green, Ky.

Re: + Donna Mae Mims on NPR +
 

News footage of DMM services...

http://kdka.com/video/[email protected]

Re: + Donna Mae Mims on NPR +
 

Good for her. what a way to go and be remembered!!!

Re: + Donna Mae Mims on NPR +
 

<font color="pink"> </font> I was at the service on Saturday, and let me tell you, it was all Donna Mae. She was full of life and its really not hard to believe that she wanted it to be a party. She lived life that way..BKH https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/burnout.gif <font color="pink"> </font>

Re: + Donna Mae Mims on NPR +
 

She must have been fun to be around. RIP Donna Mae. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/worship.gif

Re: + Donna Mae Mims on NPR +
 

The wife and I just rolled in from PA, representing the sYc at Donna Mae's funeral service.

Donna Mae was posed in her best Pink outfit, seated behind the wheel of her '79 Pink Corvette. The funeral service was very nice, the first part a nice religous service conducted by her pastor from the Methodist Church, and the second part was several friends sharing their "Donna Mae" stories. Following the service there was a get together at a local catering place. The procession to there was led by over 40 Corvettes.


As in life, she went out in style.

Re: + Donna Mae Mims on NPR +
 

I was unable to make it to the funeral, and have been really busy with some stuff lately, but as promised here are a few neat little Donna Mae tidbits I was able to dig up...I know I have a ton of other things buried somewhere, but for now I thought you guys might get a kick out of a few of these pictures/letters from Donna Mae.

The first one is a letter from Andy Granetelli, of Indy/STP fame... Donna had written him in regards to a sponsorship for Don, but as you will see... he wasn't too interested...

https://www.yenko.net/attachments/423707-misc006.jpg

Re: + Donna Mae Mims on NPR +
 

Here's Donna Mae's reply/memo back to Don's mom, suggesting maybe they just settle for some free jackets... https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/grin.gif

https://www.yenko.net/attachments/423708-misc008.jpg

Re: + Donna Mae Mims on NPR +
 

Here's a neat photo of Donna Mae (left) with Zora Arkus Duntov and his wife. That's Frank Yenko (Don's dad) on the far right. Not sure who the other guy is... anyone recognize him?

https://www.yenko.net/attachments/423711-misc011.jpg