Ava Troxler

Ava Dawn Troxler (nee Daves), 71, of Winston-Salem, NC passed away on October 5, 2019 surrounded by her family after a battle with melanoma. She was born in Greensboro, NC on August 4, 1948 to Julius Henry Daves and Martha Elizabeth Daves (nee Williams), who both preceded her in death.

Ava was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother and leaves behind her husband George Troxler, son Jeff Troxler (Susan) and daughters Christina McKeon (Mike) and Leigh Davenport (Jesse). The three most important people in her life were her grandchildren Angeleah Davenport, Heatherann Davenport and William Troxler whom she doted on every chance she got. She is also survived by her brothers Larry Daves (Maurine) and Bill Daves (Nell), sister Pat Anderson and nieces and nephews Kathy Carr, Susanne Daves-Brown, Joe Daves and his wife Maria, Henry Daves, Billy Daves and Joey Anderson. She was preceded in death by her brother-in-law Bob Anderson and nephew Bobby Anderson.

In addition to being a nurturing and loving mother and grandmother, Ava spent a good portion of her life advocating and volunteering. She was an avid quilter and seamstress, a talented singer who loved to play the piano, a soccer mom before there was such a thing, a school volunteer and an advocate for tougher drunk driving laws and drug abuse prevention. Her tireless work on drug and alcohol abuse prevention led her to the White House several times meeting with George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Joe Biden. Having attended Page High School in Greensboro during a turbulent time in the 1960s, Ava raised her kids to be accepting of everyone and often expressed strong opinions that went against the majority - something she was very comfortable doing for the rest of her life. Ava believed strongly in education and, after raising her family, completed her degree later in life at Salem College.

The family is especially grateful to Ava’s cousin Stephen Apple and his wife Karen and friend Edie Evans who provided extremely valuable support and assistance to the family when Ava’s health declined rapidly in her final days.The visitation will occur Saturday, October 12 at 1pm at New Philadelphia Moravian Church in Winston-Salem followed by a memorial service at 2pm. To honor Ava’s life, we ask that everyone wear something purple as it was her favorite color. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the New Philadelphia Moravian Church South Fork Outreach, 4440 Country Club Rd, Winston-Salem, NC 27104 or the Forsyth Humane Society at forsyth humane.org.