Donavon Merle Schmoll

Donavon Merle Schmoll, 95, of Cedar Falls, passed away peacefully at NewAldaya Lifescapes on Friday, November 22, 2024. He was born July 17, 1929, in Geneseo, Illinois, son of Perry and Rosina (Firch) Schmoll. He married Judith Burhop in 1958 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. They later divorced. He married Hannelore Vosberg in 1961, in New York City and they had 3 children together. She died of cancer in 1979. He married Marjorie Curry in 1982 at the Little Brown Church in Nashua. She died in 2021.

Donavon received degrees from Illinois State University, New York University Graduate School of Government and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate School of Library and Information Science. He was the Wartburg College Library Director for 19 years, retiring in 1994. Donavon previously served as Library Director and Assistant Professor of History at Saint Leo College, Florida. In earlier years, he briefly worked for the New York Stock Exchange Research Department and Church World Service Immigration Department. Donavon, then, received an East Africa Training Fellowship from U.S.A.I.D. and took part in an education project in Uganda for 4 years. From 1947-1955, he served in the Illinois Army National Guard, and then in the Air Force, where he trained as a Mark 6 atomic weapons technician. He was a member and past council president at St. John Lutheran Church.

Donavon was preceded in death by wives, Hannelore and Marjorie; daughter, Janice; son, Mark; godson, Stephen Kelly; sister, Kathleen; and several brothers/sisters-in-law. He is survived by his son, Michael (Gulzhamal) of New Orleans, Louisiana; daughter-in-law, Jennifer Miller of Iowa City; granddaughter, Emma Schmoll of Salem, Oregon; 2 step children, Debra (Kevin) Holl of Conrad and Kevin (Jean) Curry of Barnhart, Missouri; 4 step grandchildren: Molly Holl of Conrad and Michael (Jaclyn) Holl of Dayton, Oregon, Ryan (Rachel) Curry and Patrick Curry; and 4 step great grandchildren.

Donavon's Memorial Service will be at 1:00 pm on Thursday, December 12, 2024, at Dahl-Van Hove-Schoof Funeral Home with burial at Fairview Cemetery and Military Honors by AMVETS Post 49 of Cedar Falls. Memorials may be directed to St. John Lutheran Church or the donor's choice. Dahl-Van Hove-Schoof Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be left at www.DahlFuneralHome.com.