Obituary

She was born on February 27, 1923 as Fonda LaVonne Pointon, the second of six children, in Blackwell, Oklahoma. She was rarely called Fonda, but went by Vonnie or LaVonne. In her early childhood, the family loaded up the truck and moved west to Colorado (true Okies) for a hopefully better life. They lived in several small towns in southeast Colorado, finally settling for good in Las Animas.

Her life there wasn’t easy, as her beloved mother was a single mom. She dropped out of high school after tenth grade to get a job and help with the younger siblings. One Christmas morning of 1940, as she was walking to her job at a local restaurant, Dennys Pointon and another couple pulled up in a car and asked her if she wanted a ride. As it was a small town, he was NOT a stranger, but it was the first time he had ever offered her a ride. She didn’t make it to work that day, and it was the beginning of a love affair that lasted 66+ years.

The following year, they eloped with another couple to Taos, New Mexico where a justice of the peace married them in an Indian curio shop that he owned, with flowers from nearby fields as LaVonne’s bouquet.. Dennys was raised on a ranch, but had gotten an offer from Lockheed to come out to California for training. So they moved west and Dennys began his training. After it was over, Lockheed took too long hiring him so he accepted an offer from Northrop Corporation (long before it was Northrop Grumman). By this time, they had a beautiful baby boy named Dennys, born in 1942. They moved around Southern California for a few years as Northrop requested. Five years after baby Dennys was born, they had another son, Gary. Mom and Dad and two boys had the idyllic Leave It To Beaver life, until 8 years later when baby girl Valerie was born. At the time, they lived in Lancaster, and in 1958 moved to Torrance. LaVonne and Dennys lived in that house until all the kids had moved into adulthood, and it was always filled with friends, family and neighbors.

LaVonne and Dennys loved to dance together. Val remembers going with them to the Elks Lodge on Friday evenings where there would be a fish fry and dance. Many times when Dennys and LaVonne took to the dance floor, the other dancers would get off the floor and watch them. LaVonne had an uncanny way of knowing when her kids were up to something. One time, Gary decided to ditch school and go to the beach, so he threw his trunks out the window. When he went around to get them, after supposedly leaving for school, Mom was standing there asking, ‘Just what do you think you’re doing?’ And he said, ‘Well I WAS going to go to the beach.’

In 1975, Dennys retired from Northrop with a nice retirement package. They bought a Minnie Winnie motorhome, and travelled all over the US, and parts of Mexico and Canada in it. They were also able to travel to Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and Alaska. They had a fun and loving life, filled with laughter, friends and family.

In 2008, Dennys passed away at the age of 90 and 8 months from cancer. LaVonne stayed in the Torrance house for 2 years alone, before merging households in San Juan Capistrano with Valerie and her husband, Steve. She lived there up until she moved to her permanent home in heaven on October 1, at the age of 90 years and 8 months.

Throughout her life, LaVonne had a cheerful, positive outlook on life, and kept her sense of humor to the very end. She had the same outlook regarding death. A few days before she died, her son Dennys walked into the room where she was unable to get out of bed, and she said, ‘Do you see all the dirt?’ Dennys asked, ‘What dirt, Mom?’ And she said, ‘That pile of dirt from the hole they are digging, getting ready for me!’ And then she laughed.

The day before she passed on, she was having a difficult day, unable to breathe very well. She was opening and closing her cell phone, looking distressed. Valerie asked her who she wanted to call, and LaVonne answered, ‘God! I want to call God, and ask him why this is taking so long!’

LaVonne is survived by her brothers Guy (Mattie) Tomlin of Mt. Pleasant TX, and Buck (Pam) Barnes of Jackson CA, sister Twila (Bill) Galbraith of Olney Springs CO. Also her children Dennys (Theresa) Pointon of Mission Viejo CA, Gary (Harriette) Pointon of Land O’Lakes FL, Valerie (Steve) Montefu of San Juan Capistrano. Also by her grandchildren Deana (Ryan) Tisdale, Dennys Pointon, Dustin Pointon, Jake Montefu, Keila Hatley, Scott (Laura) Coffin, and Trevor Cope. She also leaves behind seven great grandchildren, Masie, Abbie, Sequoia, Logan, Riley, Westin and Dane.

LaVonne was an amazing, encouraging mother that was always there for her children and grandchildren. She always had a happy smile and words of love for them. She is already greatly missed.