Funeral services for Lavonia Helms Dickson Peterson, age 95, are scheduled for 3 p.m., Monday, Nov. 11, 2013 at Mt. Gilead Presbyterian Church in the Shady Hill Community with Rev. Hoyt Wilson officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. Pafford Funeral Home in Lexington is in charge of arrangements.Visitation will be on Sunday, Nov. 10 from 2 to 9 p.m. and on Monday, Nov. 11 starting at 9 a.m. Lavonia died early Saturday in Lexington. She was born June 24, 1918 in Henderson County to the late Walter Lee Helms and Minnie Pinkston Helms. She was a woman who loved life and enjoyed people both in her professional and private life. She attended Shady Hill School prior to marrying her true love, Huley Dickson in Decaturville, Tennessee on May 2, 1936. Once, she said they ran off “because I knew Daddy would have killed us. One of her best friends, Ida Mae Gurley, cousin to Huley, “helped me out with him.” She worked as a dental hygienist with Dr. John M. Douglass for 25 years. Prior to the birth of her only son, Mike Dickson, she worked at Salant and Salant for four years. During the 73 years in her home in the Reagan community, she cultivated a wonderful garden of plants and friends. She loved sharing her plants, her stories of traveling, and her life. After the passing of her husband, later in life, Lavonia married Alan Peterson. They traveled extensively enjoying dancing and taking photos of their adventures.
Lavonia was preceded in death by one sister, Edith Fesmire, and five brothers, Bill Brooks, Paul Helms, R. D. (Dennie) Helms, Brooks Helms, and Max Helms. Survivors include her son, Mike Dickson, daughter-in-law, Martha Dickson, two granddaughters, Michelle (David) Baker of Haymarket, Virginia and Myra (Terrell) Lykken of Lexington; three great-grandchildren, Drew Baker, Grant Baker and Michaela Baker, all of Haymarket, Virginia, and sister-in-laws, Juanita Helms, Inita McPeake, Helen Dickson, and brother-in-law Fay Dickson and many nieces and nephews. She grew up in New Hope Methodist Church but was a long-time member of Mt. Gilead Presbyterian Church. The family will receive visitors on Sunday, Nov. 10 from 2 to 9 p.m. and on Monday, Nov. 11 starting at 9 a.m.
