RITCHIE VALENS’ DONNA

Whatever happened the the Donna of Ritchie Valens’ ballad, “Donna”? She’s Donna Fox-Coots, 45, of Sacramento, where she married, has two daughters, and is a savings and loan branch manager.

She recalls the day she first heard her song: “When I picked up the phone, Ritchie said, ‘I wrote a song for you.’ He then sang it. I didn’t think he would record it since he did upbeat stuff. . . . Later, a bunch of girls and I were riding down the main drag in San Fernando in my convertible when we heard it on the radio. I recognized it from that day over the phone. My girlfriends started screaming. I pulled over to the side of the road. We all sat their and cried. It was so pretty.”