Vonda Lee Adorno

Our mother, Vonda Lee Adorno (nee Sponseller) passed away on April 17, 2024 in Austin, Texas after several years of declining mental and physical health due to advanced Alzheimers. She was 89 years old. She outlived her husband William Adorno and daughter Robin Ann Adorno and is survived by brother William Sponseller of Cypress, Texas; and son Justin Adorno and daughter Noel Adorno, both of Austin Texas.

Vonda might have started out in small-town USA (born September 27, 1934 in Salem, Ohio), but she took the world by storm living 50+ years overseas and traveling across all continents, including Antarctica. She raised three children in various countries in Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and the Middle East. One of her mottos was “any trip is a good trip”. Besides travel, she was always up for new experiences toowhether it was watching the X games or riding reindeer in Mongolia. Vonda was a lifelong over achiever with her hobbies. While still in high school she excelled as a horsewoman. Then when living in Hawaii, she fully embraced learning Polynesian and Hawaiian hula dancing. A move to South Korea started her obsession with Korean folk art followed by ethnic jewelry. That segued into making her own jewelry from the ethnic pieces she collected from the Arabian peninsula. Her designs were often sold in museum gift shops. One of her final obsessions was running which she took up in her 60s and continued well into her 70s. She ran all distances from 5 Km up to 50 Km, often winning or placing in her age category.

Throughout her travels, Vonda was an avid photographer and dedicated communicator. Her letters and photographs from her first international assignment in Afghanistan are available at www.distantposts.com. Sample photographs of her travels are available on Noel’s Flickr account (www.flickr.com/photos/195107735@N04/albums).

We want to thank the staff at Arden Courts of Austin for their loving care of Vonda in her final years as well as the nurses at Gentiva Hospice who provided regular updates on Vonda’s health.

Justin and Noel Adorno