Ramona (Collins) Jenkins LaPlante

Ramona Ann Collins Jenkins LaPlante

Ramona Ann Collins Jenkins LaPlante, 79, of Kinston, NC passed away peacefully on Friday, November 24, 2023, surrounded by her family at UNC Lenoir Hospital. 

Ramona was born October 3, 1944 in Goldsboro, Wayne County, North Carolina.  She was the first child of Gardner Bryant and Lela Mae Collins.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Gardner Bryant and Lela Mae Collins, her husband, Lynwood Earl Jenkins and her son, Lynwood Bryant Jenkins.

Ramona was a native of Albertson and Deep Run, North Carolina and eventually settled in Kinston, North Carolina where she married and started a family.

She graduated from Deep Run School in Deep Run, North Carolina and attended James Sprunt College of Nursing and completed the nursing program there.  She worked in the nursing field for several years before eventually accepting a position with the State of North Carolina at Caswell Developmental Center.

Ramona was a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served diligently in her callings.  She had a great love for the gospel and a strong testimony.  One of her most precious memories was being sealed to her husband and children at the Washington DC Temple on May 10, 1980.

Ramona was extraordinarily talented and ambitious woman.  However, her overriding desire has always been to serve our Heavenly Father and His children.  She was a servant at heart.  She ministered to so many.  She freely shared the gospel and helped the weak and disabled.  She encouraged the discouraged and assisted those in need.  She comforted those who were down and loved those who were lonely.  She was also very passionate about her genealogy work.  She would talk about it 24/7 if you would let her.  She never knew a stranger and people seemed to be drawn to her.  She had a gift for helping others trace and find their roots and she would go to any limit to find the information she needed.  Ramona blessed others with her talents in the garden, too, she loved flowers and just being outside surrounded by God’s glorious creations.  She could grow anything she touched and regularly shared cuttings and rooted plants with others.

Ramona was blessed with a large and loving family.  She was a beloved Mother, Grandmother, Daughter, Sister, Aunt and Friend.

In her later years, as a widow, Ramona met and fell in love with Claude LaPlante, they married and recently celebrated their second anniversary.  They shared a love of the gospel and family and blessed the lives of those around them with their faith and testimony.

She is survived by her husband, Claude LaPlante of the home, her children, Valeria Jenkins Malcom and husband Gregory of Grovetown, GA., Allison Jenkins Croom and husband, Randy of Deep Run, NC, Michael Shane Jenkins of Kinston, NC, sister Sharron Coston and husband Charles (& nephew, Andrew) of Deep Run, NC, nine grandchildren, Joshua Ellis, Kiri Malcom Onufer, Joshua Malcom, Rebecca Croom Counts, Maecy Croom, Reaghan Croom, Maddox Jenkins, Noah Jenkins, Zachary Jenkins and two great grandchildren, Liam Ellis and Allen Lattimore.

Visitation will be held at Pink Hill Funeral Home on Wednesday, November 29, 2023 from 6:00-7:00 p.m. with a funeral service to follow.  Burial will be on Thursday, November 30, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. at Maxwell Family Cemetery located at 133 Southerland Road, Albertson, NC.

The family will receive friends at other times at the home of Ramona's son, Michael Jenkins, 2893 Cobb Road, Kinston.

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