Violet LaVonne Able

Daily Courier (Prescott, AZ), Monday, April 16, 2012 Violet LaVonne Able, Missionary Emeritus with Baptist Mid-Missions, Cleveland, Ohio, died April 16, 2012. She was a long-term resident of Prescott Valley, Ariz. She was born July 25, 1915, in Berthold, N.D., to Joseph E. and Lulu E. (McQueen) Able, both deceased. Three brothers, Howard D., Joseph E. and James K. Able Sr.; and a sister, Dolores H. Berg, preceded her in death. Miss Able is survived by a half-brother, Clinton G. Able in Montana; a half-sister Trudee Able in Minnesota; seven nieces; and nine nephews. With keen interest in Alaska from an early age, and after finishing and becoming a Christian at age 16, she worked in business offices for 10 years before enrolling in Moody Bible Institute in Chicago after Pearl Harbor, graduating in 1944. Later, in 1961, she finished teaching accreditation at Seattle Pacific College. Commissioned by Nottingham Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio, she sailed aboard Alaska Steamship Lines the week Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed (Aug. 4, 1945). Violet served as a missionary and teacher, first with Slavic Gospel Association from 1945-1948, and then with Baptist Mid-Missions as their first missionary to Alaska from 1949-1984, and then she retired to Arizona. Following the 1964 devastating 8.6-magnitude Alaska earthquake and subsequent tidal wave, which washed out her entire section on Kodiak Island, Miss Able served in Anchorage and surrounding area in Christian education, music, bible schools, Good News Clubs, and AWANA in some of the Baptist churches being planted by over 30 missionaries with Baptist Mid-Missions (from 1964-1984). Visitation and funeral services will be at Sunrise Funeral Home on Thursday, April 19, 2012, at 10 a.m., with Pastor Tom Petro of Open Door Baptist Church, presiding. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be given to Baptist Mid-Missions, P.O. Box 308011, Cleveland, Ohio 44130 or to Open Door Baptist Church, 8451 E. Stephens Drive, Prescott Valley, AZ 86314. Sunrise Funeral Home assisted the family with arrangements. Information provided by survivors.