Coon, Anita Jo (1952-2011)
COON, TOOMER, GREGERSEN, GROOTERS, LASOTA
Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 12/3/2011 at 19:53:56
Anita Jo Coon
March 21, 1952 - November 8, 2011Monday, November 14, 2011
Anita Jo Coon, long time art instructor, artist, and musician, of Storm Lake, passed away on November 8, 2011, at the BVRMC Hospice in Storm Lake after a four year illness with pancreatic cancer.
Anita was born March 21, 1952, in Storm Lake. She was the daughter of Donald and Vivian (Gregersen) Toomer, of Nemaha. In 1970, she graduated from Crestland High School and attended Drake University and then graduated from Buena Vista University in 1975 with a bachelor's degree in Art and Music Education. She married Jay Francis Coon of Early on March 3, 1973, at the United Methodist Church in Nemaha. She, then, attended Mankato State University where she received a Master’s degree in Fine Arts.
During her college years, she helped spearhead the Buena Vista Dozen and participated in musical theater and the visual arts. She taught high school art for twenty-three years at Crestland/ Schaller Crestland schools and for nine years at Storm Lake High School. She also did adjunct work for Buena Vista University. In 1993, she received the outstanding secondary art educator award from the state Art Educators of Iowa. She presented art workshops locally and nationally.
She loved art, music, dance and theater; Anita participated in local community theater and was a member of the Chautauqua Dancers, Currier Carolers, Siouxland Master Chorale, and Touch of Broadway. Anita operated a working art studio, "Studio Upstairs," and she was actively involved in solo and group exhibitions including A.R.T. She liked church music ministry, having served as choir director and cantor in the Catholic Church for many years.
Anita will forever be remembered by her devoted husband, Jay Coon, of Storm Lake; her son, Joshua Coon, his wife, Christi, and their children, Aubrey Grace and Ryan Evan, of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee; her daughter, Gabrielle Grooters, her husband Scott, and their children, Austin Jay and Maren Elizabeth of Spring Hill, Tennessee; her brother Greg Toomer, of Early, and his children, Lisa, Mark, Erin, and John; her sisters, Valerie Toomer, and her partner, Nancy Manderfeld, of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, and Jennifer Toomer Lasota, her husband, Randy, and son, Charles, of Minnetonka, Minnesota. Anita was preceded in death by her parents, Donald and Vivian Toomer, along with her grandparents, Charles and Evelyn Toomer and Adolph and Marie Gregersen.
Anita touched the lives of many people with her beauty and grace. She maintained her blissful spirit all the way to the end.
Funeral Arrangements have been made with Farber & Ottomon Funeral Homes of Sac City, Iowa.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, November 12, 2001, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Storm Lake. Anita was cremated and will be buried at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to the Buena Vista Regional Medical Center Oncology and Hospice Programs.
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