Iva Lorene Sammons

Iva L. Sammons, age 92, of The Villages, FL, formerly of New Albany, OH died August 19, 2025. Iva was born May 7, 1933, in Gahanna, OH to the late Stanley and Edith (Shumate) Owen. She was a 1951 graduate of Linden McKinley High School. Later that year she married Robert "Bob" Sammons, the love of her life. They were married for nearly 69 years, until his death in 2020. Iva was preceded in death by her parents, brothers, James and Richard, and son Richard. Survived by her halfsister, Victoria (Owen) Sherman; children, Robert Douglas (Joyce) Sammons, Crystal (Kirk Miller) Sammons, Edith (Steve) Steffan; 13 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews who were special to her and brought her so much joy.
Iva was a devoted mother and active in the community. She served as president of the Women's Society for Christian Service and Youth Coordinator for the New Albany United Methodist Church. Iva was an advisor to the Jolly Stitchers 4-H Club. She was a member of the Gahanna Art League where she pursued her interest in drawing and china painting. She loved to sew, knit, crochet, and excelled in the fiber arts including spinning, weaving, felting, and yarn dying. She won many awards and ribbons for her flower arrangements and baked goods at the Franklin County Fair, and her Butterscotch Pie was a blue-ribbon prize winner at the Ohio State Fair. She participated in and won awards for flower arrangements from the Worthington area garden club competitions and awards for her woven shawls and felt objects at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Iva was a self-taught musician playing piano and learned to play dulcimer in her 70's. Iva and Bob traveled throughout the country in their RV, including a trip to Alaska for their 50th wedding anniversary. They also traveled to Europe, Hawaii, Bahamas, and cruised to Mexico. Most of the travel was recorded in detailed journals that Iva kept along with photos and video tapes.
While she expressed her many talents, nothing was as meaningful to her as establishing and operating Wayside Flower Shop in New Albany for 35 years. Started in 1972 her first shop opened in her home on Bevelhymer Road and then moved in 1975 to16 East Main St. In 1978 she purchased the historic telegraph office at 24 E. Main St. and Wayside blossomed in the larger space. Wayside operated successfully until the shop was sold in 2007.
Iva was a life-long learner. She had a spirit that she could do anything, and she put her whole heart into it.
Service will be held at Moreland Funeral Home, 55 E. Schrock Road, Westerville, on Tuesday, August 26, 2025, at 12:30 p.m. with visitation from 11:00 a.m. until service time. Interment immediately following at Maplewood Cemetery, New Albany, Ohio.