1930 - 2008

ChildHood:

- LoVella Mae and LaVon Lockwood (twins) born in Quinton, Oklahoma, 1930
- Family moved to Central California in 1936.
- LoVella was one of 11 children (9 children made it to adulthood) oldest of three girls.
- All of the children and parents names Started with the letter “L”

Family:

Survived by her husband Roger of 48 years; son and daughter-in-law John & Sandy Lane of Millcreek, Washington; daughter and son-in-law Diana & Byron Dunn of Mobile, Alabama; two sisters Lona Green of Tulare & Lyda of Arizona; along with three grand children Braden, Cody & Brittany Dunn.

History:

LoVella’s father operated a hay baler and LoVella worked on it with her father. To this day the smell of new mown hay was NOT as pleasant to LoVella as it is to most of us. She also picked cotton and various field work as was the norm for a lot of families of that era.

LoVella joined the Marine Corps. (Age and year unknown) under a new program to train women to work in a secretarial pool. She under went basic training at Paris Island, South Carolina. However, the program was terminated and she was honorably discharged with many other women at that time.

Diana said that her mother has had a hobby of some kind as far back as she can remember. She was involved in leather crafts for quit some time. Her work was very well received and shown. She also did decoupage oil painting and was also a rock hound. LoVella gave classes in lapidary.

LoVella became interested in making flutes in 2001or 2002 while in route to Alabama to visit her daughter. They had stopped somewhere where she bought a small wooden flute (Whistle) and became interested in how to make them. She contacted Larry (last name unknown) in the Visalia area who is a professional flute maker. He led her through the process as well as using a lathe for the first time and before long she was making top of the line Native American flutes.

LoVella joined the San Joaquin Fine Woodworkers Association in January of 2006 and not long after she also joined the Sequoia Woodturners. She was a very active member and contributor to both clubs. She was also an avid attendee of the Tuesday morning sessions at Bob Sansom’s. She started at Bob’s to learn how to make pens and then graduated to bowels and other small turnings. She eventually bought a new Jet mini lathe with variable speed and kept it at Bob’s so she could use a lathe that she didn’t have to keep changing belts on. This was in addition to the one she had at home.

She was so excited about her turning that her calls to her daughter back east were often dominated with conversations about turning and little else. She even bought both her son John (nick named Augie) and daughter class time at Woodcraft’s turning classes in their area.

It seems that LoVella had an insatiable curiosity about lot of things coupled with a keen interest to learn out to make it happen.

Sources: Diana Dunn (Daughter) & John Lane (son); SJFWA Records - Ken Kenoyer; Sequoia Woodturners - Courtland Hunt