ForeverMissed
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This site has been created in loving memory of Jonnie. Please feel free to share your stories, photos, music, and memories to help celebrate her life!

Jonnie Maria Lazzara (D’Andrea), age 69, passed away quickly and without suffering on Tuesday, October 27th, 2020.

Born in Sevierville, Tennessee, on September 11, 1951, Jonnie lived most of her adult life in Atlanta, Ga, and was living in Marietta, Ga. in her last several years.

Jonnie graduated from Columbus High School in Georgia, and during her college years, she attended the University of Georgia, Oglethorpe University, and Georgia State University. Jonnie majored in Anthropology but was also heavily active in the Women’s Study department and Theater.

Jonnie’s adventurous young professional life saw her as Co-Owner or General Manager of a restaurant, a pub, and a concert club. She spent many years booking bands and promoting the local music scene in Atlanta Ga. Later in her career life, she also moved into Accounting, Typesetting, Computer IT work, and Company Management. No matter where Jonnie worked, she excelled and made it a mission to help others around her succeed also.

Reading books was her greatest hobby, and not a single day would go by where she did not find time to read. Science-Fiction and Mystery were her favorites, but her life’s library consisted of thousands of Fiction and Non-Fiction books. Second only to books, was her love of music. She was among the attendees at Woodstock in 69’ and that was an integral part of bringing her love of music together with activism. She also loved movies, science fiction & fantasy shows, gaming, traveling, and when her health was better, camping and backpacking. Nature was very dear to her, and she could never get enough of seeing the Great Smokey Mountains where she was born, and spent many years visiting family.

Jonnie’s truest life passion was helping to bring equality and justice to the world around her. She was an activist her entire life, and she never stopped working towards the ultimate goal of peace and love throughout the world. Her activism and support in the human rights, civil rights, and women’s equality movements, her work in helping bring care and justice for our Veterans, along with her climate change awareness and environmental activism, brought her into the lives of many. Her voice and actions in the causes she fought for will live on for generations.

Jonnie was preceded in death by her parents Frank R Lazzara Sr. and Maxine (Lazzara) Woodruff, her younger brother Samuel Lazzara, her younger sister Toni Lee Lazzara, husband Gary D’Andrea, past husband and friend Michael Bagdes, and sibling in-laws from the Bagdes family: Marcy, Mary-Ellen, Fabe, Richard, and Phillip.

Jonnie is survived by her daughter, Lara (Bagdes) Kimber, Son-in-Law Samuel Kimber, grand-daughter Abigail Kimber, stepson Stephen Helin (with his wife Keisha and their two daughters and one son), stepson Carey Carter (with his wife Ashley and their daughter), stepdaughter Leah (D’Andrea) Lee (with her husband Chris), extended family member Aimee Knier (sister of Carey - with her husband Brian and their daughter), younger brother Dr. Frank R Lazzara Jr. (with his wife Myongyo), younger sister Cathy (Lazzara) Elder, nephew Robert Miller (with his wife Jennifer and their daughter), nephew Christopher Turner (with his wife Gabby and their daughter), nephew Matthew Lazzara (with his wife Jessica and their three daughters), nephew Brian Lazzara (with his wife Shelby and their two sons), nephew Joseph Lazzara (with his wife Natalie), aunt Nancy Lazzara, uncle Sal Lazzara, uncle Bill Woodruff (with his wife Judith), and many loved cousins from multiple generations too numerous to name. Extended and past family members still considered family by Jonnie include: brother in-law Francis Bagdes (with his wife Martha and their two sons), sister in-law Karen Bagdes-Canning (with her husband Michael and their two daughters and two sons), brother in-law Stephen Bagdes (with his partner Tom Beutner), sister in-law Ruth Bagdes, past-husband and friend Eric Carter, brother in-law and friend John Carter (and other Carter family siblings and relatives too numerous to name), as well as other extended family including David Christian, Darlene Retta Carra, Debra Keefer Ramage, and cousins, nieces, and nephews, too numerous to name.

To honor her wishes, there will be a “celebration of life” party for Jonnie in the future. We are waiting until times are safer for friends and family to travel and will reach out to everyone who loved Jonnie to extend an invitation when the date is set. Please also feel free to share stories or photos on this memorial page!

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Jonnie’s honor to one of the causes below:


Room to Read – https://www.roomtoread.org/ 
Donate: https://www.roomtoread.org/support-education/
“Room to Read seeks to transform the lives of millions of children in low-income communities by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education.”

Hungry for Music https://hungryformusic.org/ 
Donate: https://hungryformusic.org/support-us/
“Hungry for Music is a charitable nonprofit organization located in Washington, D.C., that works to support music education and cultural enrichment, and acquires and provides musical instruments to underprivileged children around the world.

Southern Poverty Law Center – https://www.splcenter.org/
Donate: https://www.splcenter.org/support-us
“The SPLC was founded in 1971 to ensure that the promise of the civil rights movement became a reality for all. …. The Southern Poverty Law Center is dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our society.”

Veterans for Common Sense – http://veteransforcommonsense.org/
Donate: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/vcs?code=viaV...
“Since 2002, Veterans for Common Sense has continued to provide critical information and education on issues related to veterans, the military, and U.S. foreign affairs. Veterans for Common Sense provides special focus on the improving the VA and programs and services for veterans and military service members, the costs of war, and military toxic exposure issues..”

National Audubon Society – https://www.audubon.org/
Donate: https://www.audubon.org/how-to-help
“The National Audubon Society protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow, throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation.”

Friends of the Smokies – https://friendsofthesmokies.org/learn-about-us/
Donate: https://friendsofthesmokies.org/donate/
“Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park assists the National Park Service in its mission to preserve and protect Great Smoky Mountains National Park by raising funds and public awareness, and providing volunteers for needed projects.”

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network – https://autisticadvocacy.org/
Donate: https://autisticadvocacy.org/donate
“The Autistic Self Advocacy Network is a national grassroots disability rights organization run by and for Autistic Americans, advocating for systems change and ensuring that the voices of Autistic people are heard in policy debates and the halls of power. Our staff work to educate communities and improve public perceptions of autism.”


November 29, 2020
November 29, 2020
Hello! I worked at the same company with Jonnie for many years. We only spoke over the phone and I had the good fortune of listening to her calls as part of my job at times. 

I can remember telling someone that I wish all of the Employees had her gift for kind and professional interactions with our customers. 

She had a very resilient spirit and was always positive, though she was unwell and could have complained. But she didn't. We always had a chuckle and some positive interaction anytime she called for assistance. She was so humble and kind and I am sure she brings great joy in the heavenly realm now!

I feel honored to have known her. I pray that her family is comforted and has peace and grace to let her go.

God bless. 

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November 29, 2020
November 29, 2020
Hello! I worked at the same company with Jonnie for many years. We only spoke over the phone and I had the good fortune of listening to her calls as part of my job at times. 

I can remember telling someone that I wish all of the Employees had her gift for kind and professional interactions with our customers. 

She had a very resilient spirit and was always positive, though she was unwell and could have complained. But she didn't. We always had a chuckle and some positive interaction anytime she called for assistance. She was so humble and kind and I am sure she brings great joy in the heavenly realm now!

I feel honored to have known her. I pray that her family is comforted and has peace and grace to let her go.

God bless. 
Her Life

Jonnie's Favorite Quotes

November 19, 2020
Here are some of Jonnie's favorite quotes she originally shared on her Facebook profile:

"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one."
― George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons

“No matter where you go, there you are.”
- The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

"If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution."
- Emma Goldman

"All I can do is be me, whoever that is."
- Bob Dylan

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace" 
- Jimi Hendrix

"You cannot buy the Revolution. You cannot make the Revolution. You can only be the Revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere."
-The Dispossessed, Ursula K. LeGuin

"I will die a slave to principles, not to men."
- Emiliano Zapata

"I stay cool, and dig all jive, That's the way I stay alive.
My motto, as I live and learn, is Dig and be dug in return."
- Langston Hughes

“Beloved community is formed not by the eradication of difference but by its affirmation, by each of us claiming the identities and cultural legacies that shape who we are and how we live in the world.”
― bell hooks, Killing Rage: Ending Racism

"It takes personal integrity to achieve unconditional liberty."
- author unknown

"It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived."
- author unknown

“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”
-Lao Tzu

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."
- Albert Einstein

"A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays in the maze."
- Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale

"To be hopeful in bad times is NOT foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that Human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places — and there are so many — where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to ACT."
- Professor Howard Zinn (1922 - 2010)

"Religion is regarded by the gullible as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful."
- Seneca

"Those who can make you believe in absurdities can make you commit atrocities."
- Voltaire

"Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."
- Leonard Cohen

“I shall continue to be an impossible person so long as those who are now possible remain possible.”
- Michael Bakunin 1814-1876

"Well, I am one who doesn't believe in deluding myself. I'm not going to sit at your table and watch you eat, with nothing on my plate, and call myself a diner. Sitting at the table doesn't make you a diner, unless you eat some of what's on that plate. Being here in America doesn't make you an American. Being born here in America doesn't make you an American. Why, if birth made you American, you wouldn't need any legislation; you wouldn't need any amendments to the Constitution; you wouldn't be faced with civil-rights filibustering in Washington, D.C., right now. They don't have to pass civil-rights legislation to make a Polack an American."
- Malcolm X, The Ballot or the Bullet.

"Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it's less good than the one you had before. You can fight it, you can do nothing but scream about what you've lost, or you can accept that and try to put together something that's good."
- Elizabeth Edwards

"Injustice anywhere, is a threat to justice everywhere."
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Wide acceptance of an idea is not proof of its validity."
- Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol

“The Bible contains six admonishments to homosexuals and 362 admonishments to heterosexuals. That doesn't mean that God doesn't love heterosexuals. It's just that they need more supervision.”
- Lynn Lavner

“I shall continue to be an impossible person so long as those who are now possible remain possible.”
- Michael Bakunin 1814-1876

And ripped from Keith: "We know that there is no help for us but from one another, that no hand will save us if we do not reach out our hand. And the hand that you reach out is empty, as mine is. You have nothing. You possess nothing. You own nothing. You are free. All you have is what you are, and what you give."
- Ursula K. Le Guin (The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia)

"When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world."
- George Washington Carver

"Women and Cats will do as they please, and Men and Dogs should relax and get used to the idea"
- Robert A. Heinlein

“Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam."
- Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot

"Why people tell you something is as important as what they tell you."
- Me (Jonnie)



November 19, 2020
To honor her wishes, there will be a “celebration of life” party for Jonnie in the future. We are waiting until times are safer for friends and family to travel and will reach out to everyone who loved Jonnie to extend an invitation when the date is set. Please also feel free to share stories or photos on this memorial page!
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