Feb. 23, 1945 – April 6, 2024

 A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, April 27, 2024, at 11 a.m. at First Baptist Church in DeRidder for Ramona Copeland Avant, age 79, who passed away peacefully at her residence on Saturday, April 6, 2024, in Deridder. 

Visitation will be held on Saturday, April 27, 2024, from 10 a.m. until service time at First Baptist Church in DeRidder. 

Ramona Copeland Avant was born on Feb. 23, 1945, in Shreveport and she was a longtime resident of DeRidder. She loved her husband and family dearly. Ramona considered teaching science and art as a ministry and loved her students very much. She was deeply involved in her students’ lives. Ramona served as a National Honor Society sponsor for many years and enjoyed taking her students skiing in Colorado. She and her husband loved agriculture as they both had degrees in agriculture from LSU. Ramona was an equal partner in establishing the first commercial blueberry plantation in Louisiana. She enjoyed fishing and hunting with her husband as well as working with him. In the summer, Ramona was a part time employee of LSU Baton Rouge, instructing other science teachers on how to use microbiology and molecular equipment so that they could borrow the same equipment to teach their science students the same lessons. Above all, Ramona loved Jesus. She was active in choir and was a Sunday school teaching for many years. She is now it the arms of Jesus and will be dearly missed. 

Ramona is survived by her loving husband of 57 years, N. Thomas Avant; as well as her siblings, Gilda Copeland Whittington, Andrea Copeland Seals, and Kaysea Copeland Nunez. 

She was preceded in death by her parents, Gordon Lee Copeland and Fleta Adair Wimberly Avant. 

In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made in memory of Ramona Copeland Avant to White Oaks Ministries, 3612 Hwy 112, DeRidder, LA 70634, to build a faith based therapeutic home for trafficked and sexually abused children. 

Arrangements have been entrusted to Cypress Funeral Home & Crematory, 206 W. Lafayette St., Maurice, LA 70555.