Business owner loses battle with cancer

Donnavon Eaker, a long-time business owner in Ellendale, has lost her battle with cancer.
Eaker, who operated the award-winning Steve’s Meat Market in Ellendale for the past 49 years, died last week at Methodist Hospital in Rochester after fighting the disease for nearly 16 months. She and her husband Steve had operated the meat market together until he died in 2006. Their daughter, Rachael Lee, has been running the business with her mother in recent years.
She was 72.
After the hearing the news of Eaker’s death, Stephanie Kibler, who serves on the Ellendale City Council, said she began to think of her often. Kibler worked for the Eakers in 1979.
“She was terrific boss,” Kibler said. “When I returned to Ellendale more than 30 years later, she was one of the first people to reach out to me.”
Kibler said Eaker had a significant impact on the community. “She has always been a strong voice for Ellendale, its residents and businesses,” Kibler said.
Tamzen Johnson of Blooming Prairie had been a close friend of Eaker’s and often took her to medical appointments during her cancer battle.
Johnson called Eaker “the energizer bunny of energy.” Eaker was known as a hard worker, driven, detail oriented, kind and generous, Johnson said. “She loved her work, cared for her co-workers and enjoyed her customers,” she said, adding she had worked behind the scenes even recently. 
Eaker will be remembered for always being on the cutting edge of innovation, advertising and customer service, Johnson said.
“Donnavon will be deeply missed but her example will influence my life in many ways for years to come,” Johnson said. “It comforts me to know she knew Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior and lived each day as a witness.”
Doctors diagnosed Eaker with non-small lung cancer in November 2020. At the time a CT scan showed cancer in the brain, bones, liver, lymph nodes and a tumor in the lung. She immediately began treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
“I’m not ready to hang it up yet,” Eaker said during a 2020 interview with the Times shortly after her diagnosis. “I will fight this,” she said with determination.
Among the treatments she received was Keytruda, a relatively new drug that is immunotherapy for advanced non-small lung cancer patients. While chemo doesn’t penetrate the brain, Keytruda does get at it.
Throughout the battle, Eaker leaned on her faith to get her through the darkest times. “I let my faith be bigger than my fear,” Eaker said. “I know Jesus is surrounding his arms and protecting me. I can’t imagine anyone without faith. It would be such a deep hole.”
Eaker expressed a great amount of hope during her cancer battle. “If I don’t have hope, it’s a darn lonely road to go down,” she said.
The cancer diagnosis forced Eaker to be away much of the time from the meat market. She became emotional on Christmas Eve 2020 when she couldn’t be at work on the busiest day of the year helping at the store. Instead she was receiving chemo.
Eaker graduated from Claremont High School in 1968 and attended beauty school in Faribault. The family moved to Ellendale in 1973 when they purchased Pete and Rubes Market, paving the way to it becoming the legendary Steve’s Meat Market.  
In addition to owning the business, Eaker was heavily involved in the community. Her biggest passion was leading the Ellendale Days committee and organizing the Ellendale centennial.
She was involved on the boards of the Minnesota Association of Meat Processors and the American Association of Meat Processors for many years.
Funeral services were held Wednesday at First Lutheran Church in Ellendale.
A full obituary can be found on Page A17.