LaVonna Fox

Vonnie was the third of four children and youngest of three girls in the family. She would later admit that being the youngest girl would make her a Mommy’s girl who got the most attention. She was also the daughter closest to the last born, baby brother Pat, who she was often tasked to care for, a job she thoroughly enjoyed.

In 1938 her father would campaign for the job as Burnet County Sheriff and she and her sisters would travel the countryside with him handing out campaign flyers. She said her father would see someone working in a field and stop the truck, telling the girls to run and give them a flyer. The girls were one of Wallace Riddell’s secret weapons in winning the election. Wallace Riddell would later become the longest serving Sheriff ever in the state of Texas.

When her father became Sheriff the family moved from their Shovel Mountain home to Burnet to live in the county jail. Vonnie would care for brother Pat while her parents worked at the jail and at 13 she got a job at the general store on the square where she worked Saturdays and summers for the enormous sum of 50 cents a day until she graduated.

She was among the top students in her class and graduated from Burnet High School in 1944. When she graduated she moved in with her sisters in Austin and went to business college. She was able to get a job with a State Legislator who needed a secretary, but eventually returned to Burnet and worked as the secretary for the City Manager.

She would marry Billy Joe Fox on Dec. 8, 1953. Together they would build and manage several businesses including the Thunderbird Lake Resort on Lake Buchanan and Fox Real Estate. One of the major contributions of their real estate business was the donation of land for the eventual Delaware Springs Golf Course and the creation of the Delaware Springs subdivision.

Billy Joe would pass on Jan. 30, 2018 and Vonnie would remain active in their business entities until the age of 95.

Vonnie was most proud of her nieces and nephew and the love they all shared. Her family was always the most important thing in her life and brought her the most joy. Vonnie’s infectious smile and generous heart will be missed tremendously.

Vonnie was preceded in death by her parents; husband Billy Joe Fox; sisters Modena Curington and Daisybel Grigsby; brother Wallace Patton “Pat” Riddell; a nephew Chuck Grigsby and a niece, Gail Grigsby McMillan.

Survivors include her sister-in-law Ann Riddell; nephew John Grigsby; nieces Rachel Curington,

MaryAnne Curington, Renee Riddell, Randi Riddell-Reifel and Rachel Riddell-Holcomb;

seven great nieces and nephews and four great great nieces and nephews.

A visitation will be held Tuesday, March 11 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Clements-Wilcox Funeral Home in Burnet. Funeral services are set for Wednesday, March 12 at 10 a.m. at Vandeveer Street Church of Christ in Burnet with burial at Post Mountain Cemetery in Burnet.

Pallbearers are Michael Holcomb, Beau Reifel, Avery Holcomb, Aidan Holcomb, Halsey Riddell, Stanford Todd, Dallas Wood, Rick Espitia and Ollie Rodriguez.

Honorary pallbearers are Greg Hancock, John Grigsby, Cary Johnson, Clint Dickens, Keith Dickens, Wallace Herbert, Ann Riddell, Bill Herbert, Rachel Curington, Renee Riddell, Gay Dickens, Randi Reifel, Rachel Holcomb, Chance Warden and Gary Vaughan.

Memorials may be made in her name to the Hill Country Community Foundation - Wallace and Essie Riddell Scholarship Endowment Fund c/o First State Bank Burnet, P.O. Drawer 10, Burnet, TX 78611 or The Old Burnet Community Center, P.O. Box 1342, Burnet, TX 78611.

Arrangements by Clements-Wilcox Funeral Home in Burnet.