Vonnie, as she was known by nearly everyone, and her husband Lee Davis moved into The Briarwood Hills neighborhood in Marietta, Georgia in the 1960s. After nearly 55 years and raising four children, Krysti, Dennis, Kimberley and Kelley, Vonnie relocated to the Chicago area in May 2019.
Vonnie was born at home in Hanna, Iowa, in 1937 to Denny and Billie (Arndorfer) Carroll and lived in the Hanna-LuVerne area as the middle child of her four siblings; Denise, Tom, Don and Rosemary. Vonnie married Leland (Lee) Davis, son of Riley and Madeline Davis who farmed in Corwith, Iowa. Shortly after their marriage, the couple relocated to Iowa City where Lee attended the University of Iowa and where they started their family. Shortly after Krysti was born, the Davis family relocated to Forks, Washington to be closer to family, and then moved on to Seattle where Lee would continue his education. At that time
Vonnie was working for Fruehauf Truck Lines, however once Dennis was born, she left her corporate job to create a stay-at-home job “babysitting” several children for other working mothers. This income helped put her husband through college. After his graduation from the University of Washington, Lee joined The Boeing Aircraft Company, and Vonnie became a full-time, stay-at-home-mom with the arrival of baby Kimberley. Lee’s career was on track, and in 1962 he was asked to lead projects for Boeing Space Program in Huntsville, Alabama, then onto New Orleans, Louisiana and in 1966, a final move to Marietta, Georgia to play a role in the C-5A Project at Lockheed. While in Marietta, the Davis family was completed with the addition of Kelley Marie. Vonnie eventually re-entered the work force part time as a Cobb County school bus driver so she could be home when her children were out of school. She was the first Special Education and Title V driver, Bus # 205, for several county schools including Elizabeth Elementary, Brumby Elementary, and Powers Ferry Elementary, among others. Being a school bus driver was a great job for moms of school-aged children. Vonnie was one of seven neighborhood moms who had a school bus parked in front of the house every night!
Leland passed away in 1978 leaving Vonnie to raise her youngest children, Kimberley and Kelley, as a single mom. She checked out a typewriter from the local library, honed her typing skills to over 110 WPM and embarked on a full-time career as an executive assistant with Munford Inc (aka Majik Market) and the Federal Food and Drug Administration. Vonnie found her niche with the US Air Force on Dobbins Air Force Base when she began a 20-year career, retiring in 1999 as Assistant to the Base Commander.
Vonnie enjoyed travelling! All four kids learned to read maps during long trips to visit family in Iowa, Washington, Texas, short excursions to Panama City Beach (aka the Redneck Riviera), memorable trips to Peru, Cape Canaveral’s NASA complex, coastal Georgia and Disney World. Lavonne loved to kick off the Christmas season with her annual Black Friday Shopping Blitz with granddaughter Leslie. This was planned and executed with the precision of a military invasion!
Son, Dennis settled outside of Seattle, where he raised his children Lauren, Wesley and Beau. Vonnie so enjoyed their visits to Georgia and looked forward to the weekly, Sunday phone call to hear them share one of their latest adventures. Kaitlyn is her youngest granddaughter and “Grandma Georgia” enjoyed learning technology from her, hearing about her travels and most recently, after relocating to Glen Ellyn, Illinois this past spring, spending time with her.
It was a difficult time when her daughter Kimberley passed away at such a young age. With her usual optimistic attitude & unwavering fortitude she was able to move forward. This was but one of the valuable life lessons wisdom passed on to her children.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.9.5