Lavoine SCHELLENBERG

1944 - 2022

Lavoine Rene'e Griset Schellenberg born October 31, 1944, in San Diego, California. She died on December 28, 2022, in Seattle, Washington. She bravely battled leukemia for several years before she passed.

Lavoine attended John Burroughs Highschool in Burbank, California, with members of the popular 1960s television program, The Mouskateers. Her father, Harold Griset died when she was just a small child. Her mom, Vivian worked long hours to support Lavoine and her older brother Darryl.

In her twenties, Lavoine married and had two beautiful children, Janis and Tod. Following her marriage, Lavoine moved with the children to Canada in 1970. Where she opened a flower shop and made many lifelong friends.

Eventually, though Lavoine and her children moved back to Southern California, in 1981. Lavoine avidly supported her children's extracurricular activities such as highland dancing and many athletics. In 1981, Lavoine met Arnold Schellenberg and she moved with the children to Saskatoon, SK, Canada. She blended Arnold's family (Rhonda, Neil & Dennis) with her children by organizing game nights with tantalizing big bowls of ice cream. She also continued with her career in Real Estate which she began when living in California. Lavoine also worked for Arnold's Earth Moving Construction Company cooking for the crews and managing the books. In 1990, Lavoine and Arnold moved to Washington State. They bought a home on beautiful Liberty Lake, east of Spokane.

Lavoine brought her mom, Vivian to live at Liberty Lake for the last years of her life.

In 2011 Lavoine began another career selling health insurance. She loved to meet with people, learn about their lives and help them find the best plan for their needs.

Lavoine was passionate about learning ways to help others. She read voraciously and taught people to meditate. As a spiritual counselor, she helped her friends and family find their gifts with which to help others. Hers was a lifetime spent teaching and helping others "pay it forward". She was proud to be a member of P.E.O. since 1968. Her mother was a P.E.O. as are her daughter, granddaughter, and stepdaughter.

Lavoine is survived by her children, Janis Smith (Randy) and Tod Hunter (Mariah). Her granddaughter Thabitha Andrade (Mark), Tyler Gradwell, Hailey Rae, and Sierra Hunter and great-grandchildren Diego, Jax, and Presli, stepchildren, and many, many friends.

Memorial services will be on January 20, 2023, at 1 pm at the Opportunity Presbyterian Church, 202 N Pines Road, Spokane Valley, Washington. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to P.E.O International.