LaVonne J. Wood

January 18, 1939 - January 3, 2018

LaVonne J. Wood, 78, of Humboldt, passed away January 3, 2018 at the Humboldt County Memorial Hospital. Funeral services will be 3 p.m. Saturday, January 6, 2018, in the chapel of the Mason-Lindhart Funeral Home in Humboldt. Visitation is from 1-3 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home. Joe invites family and friends to gather at his home Saturday morning prior to the visitation. LaVonne is survived by her husband, Joe Wood of Humboldt; her sister, Marlene Stockdale of Humboldt; sister-in-law, Myrna Pederson of Dakota City; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her father, Herbert; mother, Viona Pederson-Messingham; brother, Dennis Pederson; and sister, Adele Harms. LaVonne J. Pederson, the daughter of Herbert and Viona (Nielsen) Pederson, was born January 18, 1939 on a farm near Humboldt, Iowa. She received her education in Humboldt and attended Humboldt High School. On October 27, 1956, she was united in marriage to Joe Wood at the First Lutheran Church in Humboldt. Joe’s pipeline job took the couple all over the country during the first several years of their marriage until 1963 when they settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. From 1964 – 1979, LaVonne managed the Food Operations at Milwaukee’s General Mitchell International Airport. In 1979, they moved to Twin Lakes, Iowa where she and her brother, Dennis, owned and operated LaVonne’s Restaurant and Lounge. She then returned to Humboldt where she became the first employee of Hog Slats and remained there as an executive secretary until her retirement a year ago. LaVonne loved to ride horses and continued to take riding lessons until late in life. She was very proud of her house and enjoyed spending quiet times there with Joe. She enjoyed reading, walking, and exercising and loved life until the end.