Vonda Banks Batchelor's Obituary
PERRY – Vonda Banks Batchelor, 93, joined her Heavenly Father on Friday, July 24, 2020. Funeral Services will be held on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints with the Visitation beginning at 2:00 p.m., and the Funeral beginning at 3:00 p.m. Upon completion of the service, entombment will be in the Resurrection Mausoleum in Perry Memorial Gardens.
Vonda grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, with her parents, Joseph “Joe” and Florence Banks. At the young age of 16, she was already working in a paper factory where she met Roy Batchelor of Perry, Georgia. The couple married and returned to his hometown where Vonda continued to live the rest of her life. As a young wife, Vonda mainly was a homemaker, and, as they began having children, she became a stay-at-home-mother who was with her kids most of the time. She maintained a loving environment for their family and taught their children the value of responsibility, making sure their chores and schoolwork were always done. She lived a clean life and set the example for her children and grandchildren to do the same and to love the Lord. As their children got older, Vonda began working in Electronics with Civil Service at Robins Air Force Base. After twenty-one years she retired, which was about the same time that Roy also retired from working with Civil Service. The couple had plans to travel the world, which they did when they visited their children, as their son and sons-in-law were in the military and stationed overseas, and for many years enjoying their retirement together.
Vonda was a lifetime member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She loved God and enjoyed worshipping with her church. When the Family History Center was formed at the church in Perry, she spent many hours each week researching her family’s history and helping other families to learn of their own genealogy when they visited the Center. After her husband passed away in 1998, she devoted even more time to the church, going on a Mission to Salt Lake City, Utah, for nearly two years. That time spent at the Temple and with other Christians just like her – one of the happiest times of her life – reinforced her love for God and gave her the strength to live out His will for her life over the next twenty years. Vonda was often found volunteering to clean after Wednesday night suppers at Houston Lake Baptist Church with her daughter and granddaughter. And she finally came to love cats in her older years, which she truly enjoyed.
Left to cherish the memories they made with Vonda are her children, Royetta Cannon (James) of Saluda, NC, Belle Fisher of Perry, Alan Batchelor (Deborrah) of Perry, and Yvonne Mathis (Ken) of Monroe, Washington; ten grandchildren, twenty-one great-grandchildren; several great-great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.
Vonda was preceded in death by her parents; her loving husband of 54 years, Roy Batchelor; her brothers, Willis Banks and Walter Banks; and her sister, Theota Banks Chasen.
Condolences for the family may be left in the online guestbook at www.watsonhunt.com. Watson-Hunt Funeral Home has been entrusted with the arrangements.
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