Tonia Kay Baney, age 79, passed away after a valiant battle with Alzheimer's / Dementia on Monday, Feb. 13, 2023 at Maplewood Nursing Home of Sauk Prairie.  She passed in the arms of her family. She was born in Richland Center Hospital on Aug. 4, 1943 to the late Donald and Arlene (Brown) Marks.  She spent her childhood in Lone Rock, moving to La Crosse when she was 12, where she graduated from Central in 61. She always stayed close lifelong friends with her pals from high school. She went on to Lacrosse State & UW Madison. On a road trip adventure with her girlfriends in 1964 she met Steve in Los Angeles. They both came back to Madison and were married April 2, 1965 in Madison.  They moved to Steve's hometown of Vancouver, Canada, and eventually to Maui in 1977. They came back to Sauk City, in 2011 to be close to her large and extended family that meant so much to her.  She had boundless enthusiasm and energy for organizing large family summertime and holiday events, creating so many precious memories for all.

Tonia loved the outdoors, and was always in the water, swimming in the Mississippi, Wisconsin River or the beaches of Maui.  She loved to scuba dive. She had a fearless sense of adventure, and was fortunate to travel the world in various marketing, PR and non-profit fundraising positions.  A successful business woman, she also expressed her graphic art talents through establishing a successful advertising agency on Maui. She was an accomplished and talented portrait artist. In their retirement years on Maui, Steve and Tonia operated their cottages on Maui as vacation rentals sharing their aloha and love for Maui with people from all over the globe.  She loved to garden and put the finishing touches to her homes and gardens wherever she lived.

Tonia is survived by her husband, Steve, her son, William (Renee) Baney of Pleasant Valley, NY; grandchildren, Sean (Arielle) Baney of Columbia, SC and Shannon (Carol) Brandt of Milwaukee; her siblings, brother William (Sara) Marks of Waunakee , sister, Susan (John Rigby) Larkin of  Baraboo; brother in-law  Larry Gordon of her sister Wendy,(deceased) of Barneveld. Also, the mother of her dear grandchildren, Jeanine Baney (Daley) of Mahopac, NY. She is further survived by many other relatives and friends around the world. She always had an endless source of abiding love for all, which they returned to her in kind.

Tonia's family would like to thank Dr. Mary Campbell of Prairie Clinic, the amazing staff at Sauk Prairie Hospital, Maplewood Nursing Home, and Agrace Hospice, and Curt Hooverson for the wonderful care of Tonia.  So much kindness was given to her in her final days.

A celebration of her life will be held June 10th, at Devil's Lake, interment will be with all her Brown and Marks family in Button Cemetery, Lone Rock, Wisconsin.

Online condolences may be made at hooversonfuneralhomes.com