ANDOVER – Lavonne R. Smith, 80, passed away on Sunday (October 5, 2025) at Highland Health Care, following a long illness.
Mrs. Smith was born on November 22, 1944 in Devils Lake, N.D. to Lyle and Ruth (Martin) Harrington. She graduated from Devils Lake High School.
During their growing up years, Lavonne was a stay-at-home mom for her children. After that, she started her vocational career by working at, and then purchasing, Zider Zee Restaurant in Holland. She owned and operated the restaurant for six years. Lavonne later became a nurse’s aide, working primarily at Bertrand-Chaffee Hospital in Springville. She delighted in her obstetrics job that allowed her to care for the newborns. She retired from the hospital in 2002.
Lavonne is survived by a very large and loving family including her four children, Terry (Dawn) Smith of Holland, Peggy (Don) Frost of Andover, Marc (Brenda) Smith of Chaffee and Janet (Marty) McLaughlin of Cheektowaga; two sisters, Marilynn Burkhart of Canby, Ore. and Janice Breakey of Devils Lake, N.D.; a dear friend, Sandy Smith of Holland; 12 grandchildren, Suanne (Rob) Tuttle, Kristina (Josh) Baker, Caterina (Eric) Betzold, Missy (Jake) Riehle, Katie (Warren) Johannes, Craig Billings, Carrie (Mike) Smith, Al (Jocelyn) Jones, Brad (Kelsey) Jones, Michael (Alana) Norek, Daniel Norek, and Alyssa McLaughlin; 17 great grandchildren and several nieces, nephews and cousins.
She was preceded in death by three siblings, Bob Harrington, Sharon Nixon and her twin sister Lorraine Harrington and her beautiful daughter-in-law Kimberly Smith.
Lavonne was a great Buffalo Bills fan and had a healthy rivalry with a son-in-law, who is not. Otherwise, when the TV was on, it was focused primarily on the Hallmark Station and the afternoon soap operas.
Her absolute, all-time favorite activity was decorating for holidays—any holiday, every holiday. Lavonne had an immense holiday collection and took great pleasure in adding to it and displaying it all to cheer family and friends alike. Her family fostered her obsession after she entered assisted living by bringing a good portion of her decorations to her for each holiday. Her most cherished holidays were Christmas and Thanksgiving.
It was a highlight of Lavonne’s year to go Christmas shopping with her family. They had many treasured hours together, as well, baking cookies. Lavonne is famous throughout the family for her greeting card refurbishing skills. If she needed a card she didn’t have, she would simply cross out the parts that didn’t work and write in the message she really wanted to give. It would not be unusual to receive a Christmas card with a handwritten birthday greeting, and maybe even the same design a couple of consecutive years.
Lavonne was a bit of a rebel. Her guilty pleasure was that she loved to sneak donuts, even though diabetic. She was a member, for many years, of the Andover Red Hat Society.
Lavonne loved her family but they all knew her special devotion to the littlest ones. In her final week, she was blessed to have cuddle time with several of them during the Bill’s game; for her, a true treasure.
A Celebration of Life in honor of Lavonne will be held on Saturday (November 29) from 1:00 – 3:00 at the Andover Fire Hall. Burial will take place at a later date in Devils Lake, N.D. Arrangements are under the direction of Baker-Swan Funeral Home in Andover. Online condolences maybe offered at www.baker-swan.com.
Memorial contributions in Lavonne’s name may be made to Andover Volunteer Ambulance Corps, PO Box 726, Andover, NY 14806. © 2025 Baker-Swan Funeral Home.
