Donna Goetzenberger was born in Brownfield, Texas. She has one older brother with whom she is very close. She has been an Arizona resident nearly all her life. Her parents were high school sweethearts in Arizona. After they married, they moved to Texas, the home of her mother's extended family and where her father joined the county sheriff's department. After Donna was born, she was very sickly as a baby with severe asthma and allergy to cotton gin smoke. After a couple of years which included many hospitalizations, her parents moved their family back to Phoenix, where Donna has remained. She has not had an asthmatic reaction since. Texas and Arizona are the only two states in which Donna has resided.Donna has only travelled to Canada and Mexico. She and Bryan will travel to Europe in the summer of 2018 and plan to visit Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands. At this time, their daughters have each visited more foreign countries than their mother. Donna is only fluent in English, but claims a rudimentary understanding of Spanish and can make a "sparse attempt at elementary vocabulary and a few questions."
As a teenager, in a family of law enforcement officers, Donna imagined herselve in some form of law enforcement. She applied and began the testing process for the Phoenix Police Department, but due to a hiring freeze implemented as she was going through the process, that career path did not develop.
Donna has been in the legal profession for thirty years, providing manager and senior litigation paralegal for two separate firms specializing in catastrophic injury and wrongful death. Recently, she was asked by Frank Verderame to join him and his firm (Plattner Verderame, P>C>). The firm is recognized within the legal community in placing a substantial weight on advocacy in the courtroom. They maintain a high standard of client care and satisfaction for the legal community in order to promote justice in Arizona and across the U.S.. The firm adheres to a higher value in obtaining justice for people who have been seriously harmed by the negligence or wrongful actions of others. She enjoys and loves the work and enjoys long-term, mutually respectful working relationships with those with whom she works closely.
Donna has been married seventeen years to Bryan Goetzenberger. They have three children. Dallas is 27 years old and lives in Seattle, Washington. Emilee is sixteen and currently on a Rotary Youth Exchange in Belgium. Paige is fourteen and is a freshman in high school at Arizona School for the Arts.
Donna really values time vacationing with her family and several destinations have become repeat favorites:
- Quick weekend "unwinds" in Coronado, California
- Visits to a vineyard estate in California wine country owned by her family
- Snow skiing in Tahoe
- Cape Code and the islands (Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket) with the food, abundance of historical sites and information, beautiful beaches and ocean marine life have created a love for the area so great that she and Brian intend to make The Cape a reality in their retirement future.
Donna has three rewarding volunteer experiences, each of which have been impactful.
- Volunteering to host youth exchange students has changed their family forever, resulting in wonderful friendships, experiences, memories, benefits, and life lessons for their own family as well as their extended family and friends. The experience has resulted in both their daughters having a passion for the program with Emilee currently on her exchange in Belgium and Paige planning her exchange in two years, hoping to go to Germany, Austria or Switzerland.
- Both daughters have been members of organized choir since they were six. Many fellow choristers are economically challenged and unable to afford the program's tuition and touring obligations. Four years ago, she developed a fundraising program for the Phoenix Children's Chorus to assist those kids to raise money to help themselves to pay for the expenses of the program on their own. The effort started mid year and raised $60,000. The next year, they doubled that amount, and has increased every year since. In 2016-17, they raised over $162,000 and in total over $600,000. It has benefitted 150-200 choristers each year, many of whom would not have been able to afford the mandatory summer camp and travel requirements. It has benefitted the choir itself in providing needed funds to support performances, staff increases, and music and production expenses.
- Her third experience was her recent trip with the volunteer team that participated in the Gift of Hearing project in Guaymas, Mexico. Donna wrote an article about that trip which appeared in the November 15 issue of the Mesa West Rotary Messenger.