- JOHNSON CITY - Major(R) Rebecca Jean DePonti, RN, née Potter, of Johnson City, passed away peacefully Tuesday November 16, 2021, at the Waters rehabilitation center of Johnson City. Her parents were General Logan Potter (04/30/1898 -11/17/1983) and Nancy Ethel Potter (09/02/1895-08/28/1983). She was born in old Butler, TN and she and her two brothers, Lionell, Jim and her sister Mary moved to Johnson City with her parents when the Watauga Lake was filled in. She was the youngest of the four siblings.
Rebecca graduated from Happy Valley High School in 1955 and went to college at ETSU graduating in 1959 with a Bachelor of Science from nursing school. She loved people and had a giving heart and enjoyed helping those in need, which was a lifelong pursuit. She practiced nursing for several years in New Orleans before becoming a nursing missionary and travelling abroad in the Middle East, primarily Yemen.
She joined the Army in 1969 and served abroad in Africa, which is where she met her future husband, Pier Luigi DePonti. They were married in 1973 in Eritrea and honeymooned in Kenya. She had her first and only child once they moved from Africa to the United States in South Carolina. She was well travelled and has lived in Fort Sheridan, Chicago Illinois, Vicenza Italy, Fort Sam Houston Texas, Fort Polk Louisiana, Fort Meade Maryland, Fort Campbell Kentucky, and Fort Rucker Alabama until she retired from the military. By the end of her career, she had many distinguished accomplishments, one of which was as serving as the Chief of Preventive Medicine in Fort Rucker. She retired from the Army in 1989 and moved back to the farm in Johnson City where she grew up.
She continued to work for the Red Cross and for independent home health agencies on and off through the 1990’s until retiring from nursing in her 60’s. She volunteered at disaster sites through the red cross after hurricanes when she could and volunteered at the VA and church frequently until her health no longer allowed. She always was kept her walk with God close to her heart and shared this love and her love of others as much as she could. She was a kindhearted soul who will be dearly missed by her many friends and family.
She is survived by her only surviving sibling, Mary Elsie Miller. Other survivors include her husband Pier and son Warren, step-daughter Liliana, daughter in law Jenny and five grandchildren, Isabella, Gabriella, Dario, Liliana, and Luca. She has several surviving nephews, Robert, Steven, and Rick Miller; Joe and John Potter, and one niece, Anne Potter.
The family of Rebecca Jean DePonti will receive friends and extended family on Tuesday, November 23rd from 4-6pm at Morris-Baker Funeral home. The burial service will be presided by Deacon Mike of Saint Mary’s at the VA at Mountain home
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Abt 1937 - 2021 (~ 84 years)
