Verna May (Hiner) Davidson, 82, went home to heaven on August 29th after a brief battle with cancer.Verna was born in Hutchinson, KS on Feb. 28, 1943, during wartime, to parents Laverne Hiner (WWII Navy Vet) and Delta May (Smith) Hiner. Growing up on their family farm near Glasco, KS, she was a true Kansas farm girl; driving a tractor, showing sheep in 4H, and becoming a talented gardener and seamstress.
She attended Bethany College in Lindsborg, KS, where she performed in choir, band, and as an accompanist for other students, graduating with a degree in K-12 Music Education. Verna and her husband, Joe Davidson, were united in marriage in Glasco, KS on July 3, 1965, built a beautiful home on their rural Delphos farm, and recently celebrated their 60 year wedding anniversary.
Verna loved her garden and orchard, especially picking apples. She could sew anything, making many of her own clothes and creating special outfits and costumes for her kids and grandkids. She loved to play cards and board games with family and friends and spent many happy hours doing jigsaw puzzles and playing the piano. Verna was very active in the Delphos community, a member of many civic organizations. Verna and Joe learned to dance, joining the Jolly Mixers in Salina and making many friends there. She enjoyed all sports, but her favorite was baseball (Go, KC Royals!), followed by whichever sport her kids or grandkids were playing. Verna’s true passion in life was music, and she was a gifted teacher.
After briefly teaching vocal music at Delphos, she created her own piano studio and worked with hundreds of students over a 65 year career. She taught as an adjunct piano faculty for Bethany College, belonged to the National Guild of Piano Teachers and traveled as a judge, served her church as pianist and choral director, and conducted community cantatas. It brought her great joy to found the piano quartet “Forty Fingers” with her daughter Tanya, Jenna Carver, and Nancy Sipes, and they traveled the state performing concerts, complete with comedy and costumes. She loved Jesus and her family with her whole heart and was the World’s Best Grandma.
She is preceded in death by her cherished parents, Laverne and Delta (Smith) Hiner.
She is survived by her husband Joe and two children; daughter Tanya (Nate) Wollenberg and son Lyle (Amanda) Davidson, grandchildren Jamie (Miranda) Wollenberg, Chad Wollenberg, Sabrina Wollenberg (Noah Parks), Spencer Davidson, and Shelby Davidson, and great-grandchildren, Devon and Rowan Wollenberg, who were bright lights in her life. She was blessed with many treasured friends and students who loved her, and she will be dearly missed.
The family will receive friends from 5:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M., Monday, September 1, at Wilson Family Funeral Home, 405 Argyle Ave., Minneapolis, KS 67467.
Funeral services will be at 10:00 A.M., Tuesday, September 2, at Words of Light Fellowship Church, Delphos.
Burial will be in the Delphos Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to The Verna Davidson and Delta Hiner Memorial Scholarship or Words of Light Fellowship Church and may be left in care of the funeral home.