Nita Donovan, a resident of Pacific Palisades for more than 50 years, passed away February 5 at the age of 79. A force of nature and source of inspiration to all who knew her, Nita took on many roles during her lifetime: dedicated mother, published poet, successful real estate agent, schoolteacher, and lifelong student’accomplishing all she set her mind to with boundless energy and talent. Born and raised in Santa Monica, the second daughter to Jack and Eva Marcus, Nita was a prom queen and cheerleader at SamoHi, where she was beloved by all for her sense of fun and high spirits. Even then, Nita had a deep sense of loyalty, and many of the friendships she formed in high school lasted her whole life. After attending college at the University of Colorado and graduating from UC Santa Barbara, Nita returned to Santa Monica to marry her high school sweetheart, Denny Donovan, in 1951. They soon made Pacific Palisades their home, and Nita became an elementary school teacher while her husband went to work at TRW. Nita stopped teaching when their two daughters, Lisa and Erin, came along, but soon went to work as a real estate agent in the Palisades, achieving success while forming lifelong bonds with her fellow workers at Spring Realty, Haddad Realty, Jon Douglas, and Pierson Realty, to name a few. When Nita and Denny divorced in 1997, she entered a difficult time, but with nurturing support from her close friends, she emerged more determined and alive than ever, and went on to discover her true passion: poetry. At the age of 65, Nita took a brave step by joining a poetry-writing group, yet she was welcomed with open arms. She loved writing poetry, and for the next 15 years she channeled all her energy and life experiences into her words. She soon developed her own style that, like her personality, was both humorous and totally unsentimental; and she quickly found an audience that greatly admired and appreciated her work. She was a frequent reader at Moonday, held monthly at Village Books, and her poems were published in the Palisadian-Post and various magazines and anthologies. She also wrote two chapbooks, ‘I Didn’t Want to Make Any Mistakes Either’ and ‘If We Had Stopped We Would Have Had Nothing.’ Both books were dedicated to her daughters, and prefaced with a long list of acknowledgements to the people she felt had inspired and helped her along the way. Nita was a proud, devoted mother to her children, and she absolutely delighted in her three grandchildren–never missing a single event, performance or ceremony in any of their lives. She is survived by her daughters, Lisa Donovan Lukas (husband Ron) of Pacific Palisades and Erin Donovan Long (husband Chris) of Santa Monica, and grandchildren Daisy Donovan Long, Harrison Donovan Long and Jack Donovan Saperstein. Family and friends will celebrate Nita’s life at a memorial in early April.
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