Lavona Brown

Lavona Ollivene Brown, 88, passed away Sunday, June 19, 2011, at Colonial Manor in Anita, Iowa. Lavona was born in Shelby County on April 25, 1923, from the parents Alma Olsen and Raymond Anderson.

When Lavona was three years old her mother died. After some years her mother’s sisters, Tina and Ida, took over the care of this little girl. At 18, she met Merle Brown, a musician/carpenter who made her so happy that they married in January 1942. Out of this marriage a son was born, Larry Ray. The little family lived about 20 years in Atlantic. The last 40 years Des Moines was their residence.

Lavona was a cheerful woman with a smile on her face most of the time. She was a good singer, “Happy Birthday” on the telephone is something that many of her friends will remember. When she was not writing her letters, you could find her cleaning her bell collection and attending her Bible studies or changing her apartment.

Lavona is survived by her son, Larry and his wife, Cecile; her grandchildren, Sander and Patricia, Michiel and Patty and Rogier; and by her great-grandchildren, Naima and Nordin, who all reside in Holland. She was preceded in death by her husband, Merle Brown; her three brothers, Gerald, Ivro and Graydon Anderson; her step-sister, Izroa Durham of Elk Horn, Iowa; and stepbrother, Gleowen Larsen of Southern California.

www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com

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