Meet Your NeighborThe Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Meet Your NeighborMeet your neighbor, Deanna (Dixon) King.
Deanna is one of the friendly faces you see at R&M Market & Floral in
La Harpe. She also works for The Annex Catering in La Harpe.
Deanna was born in Macomb and raised on the family farm south of Tennessee, IL and graduated in 1980 from Colchester High School.
She has been married nearly 33 years to Bryan King, a lifelong resident of the La Harpe area. They were married on September 21, 1985 in Colchester.
She says they lived in La Harpe the first 8 ½ years they were married, before selling their house in town and moving to the country in 1994. They currently live 10 miles outside of La Harpe in Durham Township. Deanna says I love small town living, but have always been more of a country girl.
Bryan graduated in 1983 from La Harpe High School and has been working for Dan Carlisle/JK Pork Inc. north of Carthage for 30+ years. He remains very involved with the Nauvoo-Colusa Sports Boosters, even though their boys have been out of school for several years. Bryan also began helping with the Annex Catering 3 or 4 years ago.
Deanna has been working for R&M Market & Floral and The Annex Catering for almost 10 years. Deanna states Delbert and Rhonda Kreps originally hired me 10 years ago to work a couple of evenings per week in their grocery store (formerly known as R&D Foods) plus help with their catering business. When the Kreps' sold the grocery store, they moved their catering business across the street to The Annex, which they also own.
When Rebecca and Max Quivey took over as the new owners of the grocery store, the name of the store changed to R&M Market & Floral. I currently work 4 days per week (second shift) in the grocery store and can usually be found at the checkout register. Providing good customer service is my top priority!
I occasionally help out in the deli when needed, and take care of office duties after the store closes at night. I'm also the administrator and co-editor of the store's Face Book page. Working the second shift at the store works well for me, as it allows me to be available to cater lunches when needed. I'm usually out of the store on the weekends as well, which also allows me to be available for weekend catering.
Rebecca has been wonderful about allowing me to work around the catering schedule. Rhonda Kreps does all of the cooking for the catering jobs. She has the hard part; I get to do the fun part! (setting up, serving, bussing tables, clean up, etc.) I love the catering; it really is so much fun! I do all of the Christmas decorating at The Annex every year, putting up anywhere between 5-8 fully decorated trees.
Last year, Rita Bennett (Rhonda's sister) helped me decorate, since she is now retired. Rita was a tremendous help to me! I am also the editor of The Annex Catering Face Book page.
Deanna and Bryan are the parents of 2 sons, both in the military. Cody, age 31, is a member of the Illinois Air National Guard and lives in Glen Carbon, IL, just outside of Saint Louis.
Casey, age 27, is in the Navy and currently stationed in Port Hueneme, CA. Casey is married and he and his wife, Chantal, have 2 children. Their granddaughter, Berlin, is 4 ½ years old and they have a new grandson, Killian, 3 ½ months old. Killian was born March 24th on Deanna's birthday!
Deanna s parents are Richard and Mary Dixon, lifelong residents of the Colchester/Tennessee area.
Her in-laws are Jim and Sandy King, longtime residents of the La Harpe area.
Deanna is the youngest of 3 kids. Her two older brothers are Stan Dixon and Clee Dixon who both farm near Tennessee, IL.
Deanna says I love being outdoors, especially going on early morning or late evening walks and riding around in UTV's. I also love bonfires and spending time with my family and friends.
My favorite tradition is riding the Ferris Wheel every year with my mom (who just turned 81) during the annual Labor Day Celebration in my hometown of Colchester.
I'm typically a homebody, but we occasionally like to get away even if only for the weekend. We love visiting our oldest son in Glen Carbon and there's always a lot to do in the Saint Louis area.
Last Christmas, we spent 8 days in California visiting our youngest son and family and toured the LA/Hollywood/Beverly Hills area. It was our first time to California and first time seeing the Pacific Ocean for both of us. Fun to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. We are looking forward to our next trip to Cali, to meet our grandson for the first time! My dream vacation is to go to Hawaii some day.
Deanna says her most influential people have definitely been her parents. She says from them, I learned the importance of being dependable, being honest, working hard and helping others.