Fonda Gay Wilds was born July 18, 1956, in Decatur, Indiana to Lorain (Wilds) Lisenby and
Wayne Mullins. She graduated from Richmond High School in 1974, where she was a
talented and proud Devilette for 3 years. Fonda would tell friends that Richmond band
director, John Parshall's, willingness to take a risk on a "wrong-side-of-the-tracks" girl like
her in the Devilettes gave her a path she wouldn't otherwise have had to college (and travel
and amazing adventures) and her storied career.
After graduation, on an adventurous whim with a friend, she traveled to Kilgore, Texas, and
tried out for the Kilgore College Rangerettes. Fonda performed in the 35th line with the
Rangerettes from 1974 to 1976 at many events and destination locations including the
Cotton Bowl, with the NYC Radio City Rockettes, even traveling on a 16-day performance
tour with the Ranger Band, featured as the star attraction at the American Fortnight in
Hong Kong, sponsored by the American Consulate and moving on to Macas, Korea, and
Hawaii. In Fonda's many performances and travels, she made wonderful friends and met
and interacted with celebrities and dignitaries. After Texas, Fonda lived and worked in
Louisiana and Minneapolis. Before coming back to Richmond, Fonda lived in Thailand
teaching dance and art.
In addition to dance, performance, and art, Fonda had a passion for teaching and learning.
She taught in Indiana classrooms for 34 years, most of those spent in her hometown of
Richmond. Fonda earned an Associate Degree in Dance from Kilgore College, a Bachelor of
Art in Art Education from Southeastern Louisiana University, and a Master of Art in Art
Education from Miami of Ohio University and took many postgraduate courses from
Indiana University and Ball State University gaining her Gifted and Talented Education
Graduate certificate, and she attended Seminary at Earlham in the mid 80's. A lifelong and
self-directed learner, Fonda continued taking courses to learn more about ecology,
environmentalism, and conservation most recently traveling to Queensland, Australia and
working with Project Dragonfly at the Cincinnati Zoom in 2018.
Fonda's love for travel and global experiences continued. Her travels were part of her
teaching and learning, seeking to bring the global village back to her Richmond village of
students. Fonda was fearless, always immersing herself in the cultural practices and
experiences of the places she lived and learned in. She was awarded numerous Eli Lilly
Creative Teacher Fellowship grants that took her to Ireland, Scotland, Alaska, Nepal, and
Japan among many other places. In 2005, with her long-time partner, Mark whom she had
known since her Kilgore days and their friend, Scott, the three hiked the Salkanty Trail to
Machhu Pichu in Peru and again together hiked the Antisana in Ecuador in 2011. She and
Mark traveled to Belize twice before Mark lost his battle with cancer in 2015.
Fonda's love of children showed up in everything she organized and made happen in the
schools and in the community. Fonda would take on anything to help her students learn
and grow, putting every ounce of herself into it. One example is her work bringing
Lemonade Day to the Richmond, in which children learn entrepreneurship skills by
running their own lemonade stands. She founded KidsFest, Daniel Reid Day, and the
Moonlight Parade. Her students painted the beautiful fire hydrants you see all over the city
for the Model T Parade. She spread the message of HOPE not only to the children in
Richmond, but with children in other parts of the world. It's not surprising that when she
traveled to Nepal, she showed up at a school with her art supplies, and said "I'm Fonda! I
teach for free!" She created a campaign of "Hope Around the World" to bring awareness of
poverty-stricken children everywhere, including in her own community and to connect
their stories and lives.
Fonda loved her home city of Richmond. She was an active member and contributor to the
Women's Through Art organization. She enjoyed making their yearly art auction a success.
Her donated art was widely sought and helped fund many worthy causes in the city. She
organized the Star Piano Festival, helping Richmond earn a place in the Guinness Book of
Records for longest continuous piano playing. That event was never about the record, but
about letting the world know what a special place Richmond is, and how important the
Starr Piano's history and tradition were to Richmond. She was passionate about preserving
Richmond's rich and beautiful history, even seeking to save Reid Memorial Presbyterian
Church's Tiffany windows. Fonda wanted to see the city of Richmond embrace, save, and
preserve its beautiful landscape and rare Indiana history that Richmond has given to the
world.
Fonda was a brilliant soul, seeing beauty and hope everywhere and in everyone. No trip
with her was in a straight line from one place to the other, because if you were with her,
she was going to take you on an adventure of learning and listening, and experiencing. She
was always deeply engaged in every conversation she was part of and her giving spirit was
listening intently to how she might give of herself to lift the narrator up. One of her last
messages spoken to her niece, Michelle, and her best friend, Lyn, was to continue to find the
language of hope and spread and teach hope.
Fonda was preceded in death by her beloved mother, Lorain Wilds Lisenby, her brother
Blaine VanWinkle, and her long-time partner, Mark Oliver, who called Fonda his longtime
true love.
Fonda is survived by her father, Alfred Wayne Mullins (Yvonne), her sisters Tami (Doug)
Blalock of Shoals, NC, Adar Rev. Marilyn (VanWinkle) Tevis (aka Liberty Tevis) of Galt, CA,
and Jeannette Mullins of Richmond, IN, her nieces Michelle Lisenby of Vancouver WA,
Stacey (Tad) Schrock, Miramar Beach, FL, Nita (Paul) Gayheart, Claypool, IN, Natisha
(Michael) Ball, Fort Wayne, IN, Tara (Jody) Staver, Portland, IN, her nephews, Lucas (Katie)
Shull, Fishers, IN and Phillip Blalock, Shoals, NC, and her Godson, Will Jones of Fishers, IN, Shane Satterfield, Springfield, OH, Anissa Tevis, Stockton, CA, Steven Tevis, Stockton, CA, Stevona Tevis, Stockton, CA, Anissa Tevis, Stockton, CA, Kyler Tevis, Stockton, CA

Everyone who knew Fonda was touched, inspired, and loved by her. She had many friends
from many walks and parts of her life. And she loved her large family and had a special
bond with her nieces and nephews. She would love to see them all come together, share,
talk, and learn how they are all connected. Plans to celebrate Fonda's life in Richmond, IN
will be held at the Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church on March 20, 2022, at 3 p.m.
Planning is underway and more details will come at a later date. A private family
celebration of life and her final journey will be to the family Wilds' Cemetery in McKee, KY.
Written in Fonda's precise script on a piece of her art was the following message:
And when I die I won't be here…I will be everywhere.
And she is.