Donna Jane Fulwiler Lobstein, 80, a fourth-generation Texan who spent her life devoted to family, travel and the pleasures of being together, passed away Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026. Memorial Service: 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, in Mount Olivet Chapel. Memorials: In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes memorial donations in Donna’s honor to the Gladney Center for Adoption at Donna was born in Dallas on June 25, 1946, to Jesse Dueward Fulwiler and Nadine Verne Rudolph Fulwiler. Raised in a Baptist household, she later joked about childhood deprivations such as the absence of Coca-Cola from the refrigerator; when she had children of her own, there were always cases of Coke on hand. She attended the University of Texas, studying mathematics, interior design and child development before becoming a flight attendant for American Airlines. In an era when stewardesses faced strict rules governing appearance and marriage, Donna briefly hid her engagement ring in hopes of keeping her job. She met Henry Philen “Phil” Lobstein in Dallas in 1967, when the young Air Force physician noticed the irreverent Longhorn bumper sticker on her car. They married on July 17, 1968, and soon sailed to Europe aboard the Italian liner Raffaello. It was the beginning of a 58-year marriage and a lifetime of travel. Donna accompanied Phil to Guam during the Vietnam War, lived with him in London during his medical training, and later settled with him in Fort Worth, where he practiced cardiology for 40 years. Donna helped establish his practice as its first office manager, then devoted herself principally to the family she had always wanted: four children, Baron, Kristen, Jillian and Ryan. Their Fort Worth house became the center of family life. Donna loved celebrations, especially Christmas, when she filled the house with lights, set up a miniature village around the tree, and served her friend Julie Lane’s sticky buns on Christmas morning. Whenever one of her children left for somewhere far away, Donna repeated the same assurance: “You can always come home.” Travel remained one of her great joys. She and Phil journeyed around the world, from Europe to Asia, Australia, Easter Island and Machu Picchu, and later visited Baron during his Foreign Service assignments overseas. Donna liked adventure best when accompanied by first-class comforts, good food and new friends. She collected people as readily as places. At home, she loved falling asleep while watching a classic movie, breakfasts of cinnamon toast and sweet coffee, and Happy Hour with a chilled Cosmopolitan or an exactingly made martini, cheese and crackers, music, and family nearby. In her final years, her grandson James became the light of her life. He called her “Nonna,” and that became her identity. As memory receded, affection did not. Even in her final weeks, seeing James still brought a smile to her face. She was preceded in death by her son Ryan Lobstein; and sister Ann Fulwiler Prestridge. Donna is survived by her husband Phil Lobstein; children Baron Lobstein and his wife, Irene Besleme Lobstein, Kristen Lobstein and Jillian Lobstein; daughter-in-law Amber Earnest Lobstein; grandson James Lobstein; sister Susan Fulwiler Fister and her husband, Lynn Fister and their daughter, Theresa Fister Paradise. For a woman who crossed oceans and circled the world, her most enduring promise was the simplest: “You can always come home.” MOUNT OLIVET CHAPEL Greenwood Funeral Homes – Cremation 2301 N. Sylvania Avenue, Fort Worth 76111 817-831-0511
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