Obituary of LaVonne Gass

Gass, La Vonne LaVonne I. Gass, age 83 of Hartington, NE and formerly of Papillion, NE passed away on Friday, April 17, 2020 at Hartington Care Center in Hartington. Memorial services will be at a later date. The Opsahl-Kostel Funeral Home & On-site Crematory, Yankton, SD is assisting with the service details. On-line condolences may be sent at: www.opsahl-kostelfuneralhome.com. LaVonne Irene Hall (Lonnie) was born in Randall, MN to Florence (Christensen) Hall and Ralph Lee Hall. As a child she moved with her parents and two older sisters to Detroit, MI. It was there that she met Gary Gass, ran away and was married in Madison County, NC. During their years together they moved many times because of Gary's service in the US Navy. Lonnie worked outside the home on a few occasions when the family was stationed at longer term base assignments, including in the fast food industry. Most of her time was spent raising her two sons, often alone, when Gary was deployed on naval vessels to overseas missions of 18 months or longer. After a 20-year career, Gary retired and with Lonnie moved to Nebraska, living in multiple communities, including Papillion where Lonnie worked in the management office of an apartment complex. In September 2016 she moved into an assisted living facility in Hartington, NE due to health issues, eventually transferring to the nursing care unit where she passed away on April 17, 2020. Lonnie was the Resident of the Month in assisted living in January 2017. Lonnie was truly a social individual, loving to sit down with friends and family over a cup of coffee or two. She made friends easily wherever she went with her smiling and bubbly personality. Lonnie was the extended family's communication coordinator, writing letters and making calls to keep everyone informed of weddings, birthdays, deaths and other family activities near and far. Her hobbies included word search puzzles, handheld games like bowling, Yahtzee and solitaire, actual bowling, bingo, TV and being the constant companion of her husband Gary. She loved her family, especially grandchildren and great-grandchildren and was expecting the birth of her first great-great-grandchild in May. She took a large number of photographs, mostly off centered, and filled large volumes of photo albums. Lonnie was proceeded in death by her parents, sisters and brothers-in-laws, Donna (Fred) Hodges and Peggy (Tom) Gardner and her husband of 61 years, Gary Garlin Gass. Grateful for having shared in her love and life are her two sons, Gary Gene Gass (Cindy Scott) and Lee (Suzan) Gass. Grandchildren Jeanne Herman (Roddy Salmon), Garrett Gass (Alexis Sewerynow), Ryne Gass (Ivy Kemp and daughter Sylvia Scott), Morgan Gass and Emily (Matthew) Rames. Great-grandchildren Jessica (Logan) Thomsen, Jake Herman (Danielle Emmons), Garrett Gass Jr., Sasha Gass, and Daniel Gass. At Lonnie's request there is no memorial service scheduled, the family requests no flowers and any memorials in her honor can be sent to the American Heart Association, P. O. Box 90545, Sioux Falls, SD 57109 or the Alzheimer's Foundation of America, 322 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10001.