Zona Appleby

Zona Gayle Potter was born November 14, 1936

Zona was raised by her mother and step father in Winfield, Kansas. At the age of three Zona accidently drowned in a rain barrel, fortunately her grandmother and a few ladies, who had recently been trained by the American Red Cross in C.P.R., were working in a nearby field and Zona was revived.

At the age of twelve Zona was diagnosed with Polio and was hospitalized, but that didn't slow Zona down. She made a speedy recovery and went on to play on her high school basketball team. Zona was very active, she loved roller skating and she attended church services with her cousins every Sunday.

Zona lived in Winfield until she met her first husband Ersol and they moved to California. Zona and Ersol were blessed with two daughters Colene and Kim. In 1969 Zona and Ersol divorced.

Shortly after, Zona found love in James Appleby, a pilot at the airport where she was employed as the air traffic reporter. On certain days when the weather would not cooperate, she would have to do the radio report from her home. On one occasion while doing the report her little dog Bridget barked in the background and when questioned over the radio "what was that Zona?", she responded "oh sometimes I take my little dog flying with me". Zona and Jim had many adventures together. They started a restoration business together, building antique airplanes for private collectors and for the film industry, which took them all over the country. Their planes were in many motion pictures including "The Great Waldo Pepper" starring Robert Redford; "The World According To Garp" starring Robin Williams and "The Ameila Erhart Story" with Susan Clark. Zona and Jim were married for forty years until his passing in 2010.

In 2012 Zona moved to Cherry Valley to be closer to family. Zona stayed very active even in her later years. Zona loved to quilt and spent a good amount of time traveling around to visit with friends and attend quilting club meetings and quilting shows. Zona also had a knack for information. She always had tabs on what everyone was up to and kept her family connected throughout the years. And, if you didn't keep in touch with her on a regular basis, you were in for it when she called.

Zona was a very courageous and outgoing person. she has made many friends in her lifetime and was loved by many. she had accomplished so many things in her life, they are too numerous to mention.

Those of you who knew her well, you know she was.... CAPABLE OF ANYTHING!