Avis Doral Hornbaker

Beloved stay-at-home mom, devoted wife, caring grandma, cherished sibling, and treasured friend, Avis Doral Hornbaker passed away on 11/05/24. Born to Albert Gerald and Lovida Alice Anderson in Woodward, North Dakota on 11/23/32, the family, including her older sister Loraine and brother Lowell, traveled west in 1936 to Washington, where her younger sister, Shirley, was born and where the economy could support a growing family.

The Anderson family shared a love for music, and when Avis attended Bothell High School, she played French horn in the band. It was there that she met Rex Kenneth Hornbaker, a trumpet player who had transferred from California.

On 07/15/50 Avis married Rex, and they began their own family with Cathy Ann, Kimberly Jo, and George Randall, settling first in Rex’s Northshore family log house and later in their Shoreline home. She enriched her family’s life with her wonderful cooking, seamstress skills, and exceptional eye for home décor that incorporated her love of beachcombing, crocheting, and making dried arrangements. 

Always supporting her children’s activities, whether concerts, scouting, or sports, she still found time to teach Sunday School, direct Vacation Bible School, serve as PTA President, and visit with neighbors over coffee. Vacations and weekends revolved around the greater family activities with siblings and their families, whether hosting picnics and family campouts; visiting her parent’s farm for meals, walks to the river, and card games; or traveling to the ocean or favorite lakes for fishing and water skiing. Shared family times continued decades after those families were raised, when she and her siblings and spouses gathered monthly at a restaurant followed by card games that were always punctuated with clever banter and laughter.

As her children reached their college years, Avis pursued the administrative training at Shoreline Community College that prepared her to become the executive secretary to the Dean of Education at Seattle Pacific University. When her husband was offered advancement in the aerospace industry, they relocated to Glendora, California in the 1980’s, where she became the assistant to the Vice President of Education at Azusa Pacific University. She was among the first staff trained and equipped with an Apple computer that began Azusa’s transformation to office automation. In California, she and Rex enjoyed golfing and get-aways to their weekend home in Desert Hot Springs, where “garage saling” with friends was a regular pastime.

Upon retirement, Avis and Rex returned to Washington where they enjoyed a beautiful home on Camano Island overlooking Puget Sound and Whidbey Island. They continued traveling to their Desert Hot Springs home in the winter, even after they downsized to their wonderful Inglewood Shores condominium at the north end of Lake Washington.

After Rex passed away in July of 2015, Avis filled her life with friends and family, growing and sharing her cherry tomatoes, reading, Internet researching, offering fascinating presentations to her church senior group, and preparing and often hosting her weekly Bible studies. In 2019 she published a short book, “Remembering North Dakota – Homesickness: A Disease of the Heart” where she captured the memories and playful anecdotes of her mother Lovida’s early North Dakota childhood and her transplant to Washington State. The pandemic caused Avis to lean on her computer skills as she attended church and weekly Bible studies over Zoom. Her iPad also allowed her to play weekly card games over the internet with her sister Shirley in Idaho.

Avis lived independently, driving herself to church, with only a few hours of weekly assistance from care-giver and friend, Ebony Jallow, until February of 2024, when a brush with COVID and an inoperable growth put pressure on her brain, suddenly depriving her of most speech, cognition, and memory. She received wonderful care from all the staff at Blueberry Gardens 4 Adult Family Home, where her home manager, Queen, marveled at all the friends and family that constantly visited her. She noted how those frequent visits were a direct reflection of the way Avis lived her life, blessing all those around her.

Avis is survived by her sister Loraine Thayer at Blueberry Gardens 4 Adult Family Home; Shirley and brother-in-law Buzz Smith in Grangeville, Idaho, daughter Cathy Hornbaker in Puyallup, Washington; daughter Kim Penner in Kenmore, Washington; son Randy Hornbaker in Anderson, California; granddaughter Lacey Penner in Milton, Washington; wonderful nephews, nieces, and friends, as well as her generous Inglewood Shores neighbors and faithful Bible study friends. We all rejoice in her “home-going”.