Avonne C. Frost Curtis

During her early years the family lived in Los Angeles, CA, Riverside, CA and San Diego, CA, as her father moved residences while working for a publishing company based in California. The family moved to Oklahoma City, OK when her father began work with the Overhead Door Company. They moved to Shreveport, LA to open a new Overhead Door Company operation, where they remained for 3 years before returning to Oklahoma City to manage the company there.

While living in Oklahoma City she met her future husband, Paul Day, at a USO gathering in Norman, OK, while he was stationed for basic training with the USMC prior to entering the Pacific Theatre of WWII in 1943. They were married while he was on a 30 day furlough from Guam in May, 1945, during the war. After marriage they lived in San Diego for a period and then moved to Detroit, MI. The couple had 3 children while living in Michigan. Diane Elizabeth Day was born August 14th, 1950. John Wesley Day and James Steven Day were born October 17,1954. The family moved to Oklahoma City in 1962 to own and manage her father’s company, The Overhead Door Company, after he passed away. They divorced in 1969.

Avonne remarried to Jack Frost. They were happily married until his death. They were very active in Kiwanis Club International, where he was a Governor of the Southwest US chapter for many years. They lived exclusively in Oklahoma City during that time.

After Jack died she met and married Jack Curtis in 1995, who was a Methodist minister. They were active in the church which led them to several small towns in Oklahoma. They retired and lived in Oklahoma City until Jack’s death in 2004.

Avonne relocated to Tulsa, OK to be close to family and remained there until her death.

Avonne led a very full and active life. She reminisced with great joy about her youth in California and her times with family in Iola, KS as well as her happy memories of raising her children. She was actively involved in PTA as her children grew and was also active with the Air Force Academy’s family support group at Tinker AFB in Midwest City, OK. She rarely missed the boy’s baseball games, and there were a lot of them. She was a strong woman in the workforce when women were just beginning to become acknowledged. While living in Detroit she was the personal secretary to Lee Iacocca when he was with the Ford Motor Company. While in Oklahoma City she worked for Manpower, a temporary services company. She began as just another temp but rose to become the general manager of the Oklahoma City area before retiring. She was a very valued member of that company.

Avonne loved to travel. During her lifetime she visited every continent except Antarctica. She was able to visit her family’s home country of Switzerland on several occasions. She walked the Great Wall of China and rode camels in Egypt. She was able to visit Israel too. Her time in Kiwanis saw her travelling throughout the United States and Europe.

Avonne passed away peacefully on December 18th, 2020 after a prolonged battle with arthritis and heart disease. Even the Covid-19th virus couldn’t claim her as she even contracted and survived that illness at age 96. God finally called her home to give her freedom from her earthy body and gave her a new glorified body to begin again. Praise be to God, who can do all things.

Avonne was preceded in death by her parents and by her three husbands. She is survived by her daughter, Diane Lay and her husband, Andy, who live in Sapello, NM. Diane has two children. Suzanne Gauldin and her husband, Jay, of Collinsville, OK have three children, Nicolas, Allison and Andrew. Karen and her husband, Eddie, of Edmond, OK have two children, Luke and Logan. She is also survived by her son, John and his wife, Stephanie, who live in Lynn Haven, FL. They have two sons. John and his wife, Jen, of Virginia Beach, VA have one daughter, Elizabeth Claire. Stephen and his wife, Katie, of Hampton, VA have seven children, Samantha, Frank, Haddie, Thomas, Elijah, Isaac, and Naomi. They are also in the process of adopting another son, Jose. Finally, she is survived by her son Jim and his wife, Janet, who live in Naples, FL. They have three sons. Michael and his wife, Amber, of Broken Arrow, OK have five children, Cadence, Nicholas, Jacob, Henry and Alex. Steven and his wife, Roxana, of Jenks, OK have twin sons, Max and Mason. Zack and his wife, Chelsea, of Naples, FL and have two children, Chloe and James.

Avonne will be remembered by her entire family as a great mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She now awaits us all in Heaven. We look forward to being with her again.