CLONTS, Laura

The Daily Courier, Prescott, Arizona, Wednesday, November 05, 2014 Laura Witter Clonts, 61, of Prescott, Arizona, died peacefully in her home on Oct. 29, 2014. Laura was born in 1953 in Kansas City, Missouri, the youngest of three children of Betty and Charles Witter. She grew up and went to high school in Lee's Summit, Missouri. After graduating from Lee's Summit High School in 1971, she attended the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where she pledged Chi Omega sorority. After two years, she transferred to the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where she completed her bachelor's degree in communications and was president of her sorority. In 1976, she married the love of her life, Bob Clonts, at her parents' home in Lee's Summit. The couple moved first to Peoria, Illinois, and then to St. Louis, Missouri, where Laura worked as a videographer at a public television station. In the 1980s, Laura and Bob lived at the Lake of the Ozarks, where she was a real estate agent. The Clonts moved to Prescott in the 1990s, and there, Laura was active in the P.E.O. Sisterhood, the Rescue a Golden organization, and the Arizona Women's Golf Association. She continued to play golf, even as her health deteriorated. "She loved getting out there," said her sister, Susan Hixson, of Fountain Hills, Arizona. "She loved the people." In Prescott, Laura had her own antique booth and was a tireless worker for Arizona Questers, a historic preservation group. "She always liked history," Susan said. "When we traveled, we were always going to old places. She and I had some wonderful times looking for antiques." Road trips took the sisters to antique barns throughout Kansas. "It was just a real love of hers." Laura also loved to travel. She and Susan went on trips together to Wimbledon; St. Petersburg, Russia; and the south of France. They saw the Palio horse race in Siena, Italy; tulips in Amsterdam; and the Chelsea Flower Show in London. Laura often went to Las Vegas, where she was regarded as an excellent video poker player. Family was central to Laura's life. She went out of her way to send birthday or anniversary cards, and she showered her nieces and cousins with gifts at Christmas time. "She never forgot anything like that," said Bob, who admitted that Laura spoiled him rotten. "She was very outgoing, pleasant and humble." Laura battled three different types of cancer over the last 15 years of her life but was not one to complain. "No matter how bad she felt, she would always find time for others," said her sister Jane Auther of Laguna Woods, California. "She was the best aunt ever to my children and grandchildren. It was a blessing to have her as my sister." "I just see her as being one of the most thoughtful and kind people I have ever met in my life," she said. Laura is survived by her husband, Bob; her two sisters, Susan and Jane; her niece, Courtney VanLoo of Phoenix, Arizona; two nephews, David Hixson of Sunnyvale, California, and Patrick Auther of Oceanside, California; a cousin, Bill Bell Jr. of Kansas City, Missouri; as well as a great-niece and two great-nephews. At Laura's request, there will be no service. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent to Rescue a Golden of Arizona, P.O. Box 71987, Phoenix, AZ 85050, or to the TGen Foundation, 445 N. Fifth Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004. Information provided by survivors.