Caring, kind, loving and dedicated – these are words her adult children used to describe LaVonne Robey Mueller, one of the people most influential in bringing Junior Miss Softball to Portage.
LaVonne passed away recently and three of her children and a grandson came together to talk about her life and the impact she had on the city of Portage.
Born in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1938, LaVonne moved to Indiana in 1966 with her husband Art and children, Pam, Penny, Pattie, Chris, Layne, and Paula.
“My mom saw that there was a lot of stuff for boys to participate in, but not so much for girls,” daughter Pattie Bell said. “As the mother of four girls, she knew she had to do something, so she and my dad and some others started Junior Miss Softball. It was incorporated in 1972. She was the first Umpire in Chief, one of the first coaches, and the lead scorekeeper. She taught everyone else how to keep score.
“Over the years she wore many different hats: running the concession stand, putting together floats, organizing fundraisers.
“Besides PJM, we girls were in scouting and she was involved in that, too. She was a Scout leader, cookie chairman . . . .”
“By the time Paula and I came along, she wasn’t cookie chairman anymore,” son Layne joked. “After the first four, she got worn down.”
Besides raising her family and her volunteer activities, LaVonne also worked outside the home. She worked as a cook at Kyle Elementary School in the mid-70s. After that she owned a ceramic shop called Clay Creations. One of her softball friends started it in her basement and then it moved to the old Portage Mall, and then to the Corner Cottage.
“People would gather there to gossip and paint, old ladies cackling” Pattie said, smiling. “All of us children worked there. The boys had to do all the lifting and dumping of the molds.”
“We never got paid, but Mom would say, ‘Here, sit down and paint this.’ That was our payment,” Layne added.
LaVonne would make special ceramic angels as gifts for the children’s teachers and coaches, and even our teammates.
“We went to Nativity, and just recently one of our sisters was given all the angels Mom made for Mrs. Williams, one of the CCD teachers, when the teacher passed away,” Pattie said. “I thought that was really special.”
Some of her avocations were bowling, cards, bingo and dancing.
She was an avid bowler and had a 300 series at Ray’s Lanes. She even went to Las Vegas and bowled in a tournament there.
“There was a big write-up on my mom in the paper when she bowled her 300 series, and Mr. Milteer, one of my teachers, cut out the article and gave it to me,” Pattie said.
“She loved cards, too,” sister Paula said.
“She’d play anybody anytime,” Pattie added. “When you came into the house, there was a card game going.”
Cards were not the only thing going on at her house.
“She loved to sew,” Paula said. “She was so talented in that way.”
“She made us clothes when we were growing up, but in later years she really got into her craft,” Layne said.
“She made wedding dresses and bridesmaids dresses, and did the flowers, too. She would go to craft shows, Pattie said.
“There was always something on the stove. She was so loving and loved being around people. All of our friends when we were kids loved to hang out at our house. They knew that LaVonne would treat them as if they were her own children. She’s yell at them just like she’d yell at us and feed them. You always had a good meal when you came to our house. Even Dad’s ironworker friends. They knew when they came that they’d get a good meal and never go away hungry. Everyone was welcome in her house.
“Her door was always open to whoever needed help. Our home was everybody’s home.”
Art and LaVonne got divorced in 1987 but remained best friends. They attended family events together and still obviously cared for each other.
LaVonne left the Portage area in 1995 to go back to Dubuque and help take care of her mother. She continued playing cards, and also worked at the nursing home as a nutritionist. Her caring and serving attitude continued wherever she went.
Layne summed it up simply.
“If you talk to any of the people who knew my mom and dad, they would all tell you my mom was a saint.”
LaVonne’s children would like all of her friends to know that they are holding a Celebration of Life in her honor on Wednesday, July 26 from 4 – 8 p.m. at the American Legion Post 260 on Mulberry Avenue in Portage. Come and share some memories.