Fawnda Runyon

With heavy hearts we announce the passing of our beloved mother, aunt, grandmother, and matriarch extraordinaire, Fawnda Runyon. Fawnda was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma in 1938 and was the youngest child of Elmer and Essie Hill. Her family moved to Gardenia, CA in the 1940s and eventually settled in Fresno, CA, where Fawnda graduated from Edison High School in 1956. While she spent many years as a bookkeeper for various companies in Fresno, Fawnda went on to become a very accomplished Minister of Religious Science. She completed her ministerial training from 1984 - 1990 and received her ministerial license in May of 1991. Fawnda received Lifetime Ordination in October 1994, a Doctor of Religious Science Studies degree in October 1997, and was granted a Doctor of Divinity in November 2000. She and her husband, Rev. Dr. James O. Runyon, were ministers at the Life Enrichment Center in Fresno for over a decade. Fawnda and James were also talented musicians and performed in numerous places throughout the Fresno and Clovis area. Their covers of June and Johnny Cash songs are legendary. Fawnda loved spending Christmas with her family, teaching her grandchildren to sing by the piano, quoting Geoffrey Chaucer, and rereading Gone With the Windby Margaret Mitchell and Katherineby Anya Setonas often as possible. She is survived by daughters Lori Nabors, Pam Brochini, Kathryn Boling, stepdaughter Shannon Runyon, seven grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and countless members of her chosen family. She is proceeded in death by her husband James, son Russell Boling, and daughter Karyn Colfer. A celebration of her life will be held Sunday, March 3rd2019 at 11:00 am at The Falls Event Center, 4105 West Figarden Drive, Fresno, CA 93772. "And so, it is."