Ethel Virginia Volz

Ethel Virginia Plummer Volz

March 30, 1933 – August 28, 2019

Ethel Volz age 86, a resident of Shalimar, FL for 49 years, died Wednesday morning in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida from multiple complications related to kidney disease.  Born at the family farm home in Churchville, Maryland to parents William Lester Plummer and Leona Poole Plummer, Ethel was the sixth born child in a family of three girls and five boys.  Not long after graduating Bel Air High School in 1951 she became an Air Force bride, marrying one of her brother’s good friends, David Volz, also of Churchville.  They were soon assigned to Eglin AFB, FL where they were introduced to the Gulf Coast lifestyle and lived for two years before returning home to Maryland.

Ethel and her family enjoyed living among her many relatives and close friends in the Harford County area while raising a family of four children. In 1970 the family moved to Shalimar, Florida when David accepted a position with the Defense Department at Eglin AFB. Ethel and David came to love their time living in the casual Shalimar area with boating, beaches, seafood, and making new friends. Her welcoming nature and great sense of humor drew in the friends of her children through the years and made it fun and interesting for all at the Volz home.  

Ethel started a career at a local optometry clinic. She enjoyed her years there serving in different capacities until retiring in 1985. An engaging people person Ethel enjoyed meeting and serving the patients and keeping up with their lives, and making friends.  After retirement Ethel and David spent time together traveling in their motor home seeing the country, meeting new people and making memories.  Ethel’s primary interest was always the love and caring for her family. When she wasn’t enjoying a stream of visits from family and good friends, she stayed engaged with her entire extended family through e-mail and Facebook as well as phone calls.  Her main interests outside of family included her flowers and animals. She loved birds and especially looked forward to the migration of humming birds each season and enticing them to pay her a backyard visit. She loved her dogs and really loved being a mama to so many of them through the years. Many of her friends knew her dogs’ names as well as her children’s names. Ethel liked sports and enjoyed watching the major ones. She was a life-long fan of the Baltimore Orioles, a Bobby Bowden FSU Seminoles fan, a Freddie Couples and Lee Trevino golf fan, and an absolute die-hard New Orleans Saints fan.

Ethel is survived by her three sons:  David R. Volz, Jr. and wife Barbara of Houston, TX, Michael B. Volz and wife Carolyn of Crestview, FL, Brian E. Volz of Shalimar, FL, daughter Mary Catherine Volz Van Pamel and husband Michael of Kemp, Texas, grandchildren: Jason G. Volz  and wife Rachael of Houston, TX, Nicholas R. Volz and wife Ashley of New Orleans, LA, Courtney Cannon of Austin, TX, Cody Cannon of Midland, TX, and Richard Maique and wife Olga of Katy, TX, great grandchildren: Stella and Wendell Volz of New Orleans, LA, Oliver and George Volz of Houston, TX, and Blythe, Sullivan, and Theodore Maique of Katy, TX.

A gathering of family and friends will be held from 4pm until 6pm Thursday, September 5, 2019 at Emerald Coast Funeral Home 161 Racetrack Road, Ft. Walton Beach, FL 32547.

Interment will be at Calvary Methodist Church, Churchville, Maryland, at a date to be determined.

In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations in memory of Ethel be made to The Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, M.D. Anderson Cancer Foundation, or a charity of your choosing. 

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