Obituary of Lavonne E. Blair

Lavonne E. Blair, 92 years of age, of Iowa City, passed away quietly on March 10, 2020 at Lantern Park Specialty Care in Coralville. A memorial service for Lavonne will be scheduled later this spring at Gay and Ciha Funeral Home. Her urn will be interred at Harlington Cemetery in Waverly, Iowa, on a warm, sunny day in late May. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations, as per her wishes, can be made in her memory to Iowa City Hospice. To share a thought, memory, or condolence with her family please visit the funeral home website at www.gayandciha.com Lavonne was born in her grandparents’ home in Waverly, Iowa on March 6, 1928, to Ardith Eva Boveia and David H. Rowray. In 1946 she graduated from Waverly High School where she was a drum major and cheerleader. She then attended Iowa State Teachers College for one year, majoring in Physical Education. Her college education was suspended when she met and married William F. Blair, Sr. on June 28, 1947, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Monona, Iowa. They raised a family of three children in the Waverly and Cedar Falls area. Determined to complete her college education, while tending to her husband, three children, and a household, she returned to the University of Northern Iowa and earned a bachelor’s degree in Art Education. With credentials in hand she began teaching art classes in Washburn, Iowa in the Waterloo School District. After her husband returned to employment with John Deere’s and they moved to Horicon, Wisconsin, Lavonne took a job as the head librarian at the Horicon Public Library. After her husband retired in 1986, Lavone continued as the head librarian for another two years, after which they retired to Hot Springs Village, Arkansas. Lavonne fondly remembered those retirement years as the best of her life—golfing, swimming, socializing, traveling, and enjoying an occasional brandy Manhattan. She also found time to join a tapdancing group which traveled locally giving performances. Bill and Lavonne, with her beloved dog Duffy, moved to Iowa City in 2004 to be closer to family and quality medical care. They celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in June of 2017, at Lantern Park, prior to Bill’s passing in November of that year. Lavonne never lost her love for drawing and painting, continuing to watercolor nature scenes and abstract works until very near the end. Lavonne leaves behind three children: William (Virginia) of Iowa City, Rebecca (Christian) Hansen of Koge, Denmark, and Scott (Roxanne) of Pensacola, Florida. And eight grandchildren: Clay (Anja) Hansen of Koge, Denmark; Megan (Mitch) Stem of Memphis,TN; Lindsay (Mark) Warren of Madison, WS; Dennis (Christina) Handrup of Kokkedal, Denmark; Matthew (Ileana) Blair of Ruston, LS; Amanda Blair of Pensacola, FL; Natalie (Zach) Joyce of Pensacola, FL, and Daniel (Aviaja) Handrup of Allerod, Denmark. She also leaves behind fourteen great-grandchildren, as well as a nephew and four nieces. She was preceded in death by her parents, a sister, a brother David Lee, and her husband. She is survived by another brother, Richard Rowray, who lives at Grand Living in Coralville.