Viola Marie (Banks) May was born on October 21, 1942 in Rosemount Township, Dakota County, Minnesota to parents, Max and Loretta (Reinardy) Banks.  Viola passed away peacefully on June 13, 2024 with family and friends by her side at the age of 81.  A Celebration of Viola's Life will be held on Sunday, July 21, 2024 at The Pine Island American Legion in Pine Island, MN at 1:00 pm.

Viola attended the Bringgold Country School and graduated from Pine Island High School in 1960.  She began working with IBM in Rochester as an Editorial Assistant in 1970 and transferred to Tucson, Arizona in 1981 where she continued to work for IBM until her official retirement in 1997.  During her career she held the positions of Corporation Order Analyst/Scheduler, Parts Planning and Logistics Analyst and Graphic Design Specialist.  She then continued to work at the Tucson IBM plant as a contractor until 2015.  Vi also owned and operated an emu and ostrich ranch called the J Bar V Ranch in Benson, Arizona in the early 1990s.   In her spare time, Viola loved sewing, crocheting, macramé, cooking and gardening.

Viola is survived by her sisters, Rose Ann (Ronald) Andrist and Kathy (Robert) Krause and her brother Donnie (Meryl) Banks.  She is preceded in death by her sister Shirley (Denny) McWaters and brother Ernest (Sharon) Banks.  Viola leaves behind her son Jeffrey (Glenda) Dohrmann, daughters Susan (Scott) Husbyn, Sheila (Jim) Kolling and Lisa (Bill) Kimbley.  She also leaves behind a beautiful legacy with 16 grandchildren and 19 great grandchildren.

After her passing we found a note that she left for all of us and it reads as follows:

"When my journey of life is through, it was well worth it, just to have the chance to love all of you.  Always and forever till we meet again."