Donna Lavaughn Gober Overton, age 79, passed away Saturday, April 13, 2024, at her residence. She was born in Tishomingo, MS on March 5, 1945. Her family moved back to Red Bay a few months after her birth. Her ancestors settled in Franklin County before Alabama became a state and were among the founders of Red Bay. She grew up working alongside her father in the family business at the Red Bay Ice & Gin Co. She graduated from Red Bay High School in 1963. She graduated from The University of Alabama in 1967 with a degree in Accounting and received her Master’s Degree and AA certification in Elementary Education from The University of North Alabama. She taught elementary school at Red Bay and Vina. She worked as a Rural Letter Carrier in Tuscumbia for 25 years, retiring in 2019.
She was a faithful Christian and lifelong member of the First Baptist Church of Red Bay. She served in teaching Sunday School and VBS, playing handbells, working in the library, on the bereavement committee and wherever she was needed. She looked for good in others, spoke the truth with love and encouragement, and had a tender and willing servant’s heart for her God, family, community, and fellow man. She personified Jesus’s exhortation, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” Matthew 5:9.
She was a devoted fan of Alabama football and basketball and enjoyed planning trips, traveling, playing the piano, sudoku, and reading voraciously. She liked cooking desserts and especially enjoyed baking chocolate pies for others.
She was preceded in death by her parents Eric Jerome and Pauline Dobbs Gober; parents-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Brad Overton; and her beloved nephew Stephen Eric Moore.
Left to cherish her enduring love and the guiding light of her example are her husband, of 56 years, James Overton; daughter Lavaughn Overton; son Bradley Overton; sister Katrine Gober Moore (Billy); sister-in-law Norma Jean Harris (Marvin) nephew Aubry Harris: and great-nieces Hannah Harris, Mary Elizabeth Moore, Jean-Marie Katrina Moore, great-nephews Samuel Stephen Moore and Nathaniel Moore.
Pallbearers will be Billy Bolton, Keith Kennedy, Michael Fancher, J.C. Weeks, Danny Pearson, and Jerrod McKinney.
Visitation will be Wednesday, April 17th from 6-9 p.m. at Deaton Funeral Home, Red Bay, AL. The funeral will be held at First Baptist Church on Thursday, April 18th at 1 p.m. with visitation from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Burial will be in Red Bay City Cemetery. Reverend Jerry Ginn and Reverend Bill Harper will be officiating. Deaton Funeral Home, Red Bay, AL will be in charge of arrangements.
In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to His Hands & Feet Ministry First Baptist Church, P O Box 616, Red Bay AL 35582 or dedicate Gideon Bibles at gideons.org.
