Clara Inez Leonard

Clara Inez (Walter) Leonard, 85, passed away peacefully in her home on January 30, 2022, surrounded by loving family. A memorial service will be held at a later date when family can congregate to celebrate her life.

The youngest child of Ransom and Edna (Cunningham) Walter, Clara was born on December 18, 1936, in Lemmon, South Dakota. She graduated from Lemmon High School in 1953 and immediately began work as a legal secretary. A few years later Clara moved to Quincy, Washington to live with her sister, Gladys, and her family, then migrated further west to Seattle where she met and later married Engelbert Matthew Leonard.

Clara married “Bert” Leonard on October 16, 1959 in Seattle, Washington, and they were inseparable for the next 35 years. Children soon followed, and they welcomed a daughter, Suzanne, in 1960, and a son, Steven, in 1962. As a family, they followed the inland waterways of the Pacific Northwest as Bert’s career as an electrical engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers called them from one hydroelectric project to another. While living in Lewiston, Idaho, Clara returned to her career as a legal secretary. The family moved to Walla Walla, Washington in 1982, where Clara remained for 30 years, even after her beloved husband died in 1995. Her final move in 2012 was to Tallahassee, Florida, to be closer to her daughter, Suzanne.

Family was the most important part of Clara’s life, and that love continued to grow over the years as she welcomed children, then grandchildren and eventually great-grandchildren into her heart. Her love and laughter were the foundation of the family, with a warm hug or bright smile felt by all. Clara also enjoyed spending time with extended family and treasured friends, playing bingo, doing crossword puzzles, reading and bowling. When Clara finally left this world, we shed a tear, shared a smile, and remembered that she’ll never truly be gone as long as we hold her close in our hearts. And we will.

Clara is survived by her children, Suzanne Harrison (Scott) and Steven Leonard (Kari); grandchildren Ryan Hutcheson (Rachel), Lisa Eilertsen (Justin), Sierra Lies (Cody), Aaron Harrison (Kelly), Matthew Leonard (Erin), Alex Leonard, and Keleigh McDaniel (Stuart); great-grandchildren Connor and Hailee Hutcheson, Lena and Cora Eilertsen, Levi Leis, Carter Harrison, and Arya Leonard; and sisters Belle Kvale and Ella Johnson. She was preceded in death by her loving husband and her parents, as well as her sisters Alice, Gladys, and Phyllis, and brothers Barton, Alan, and Donny.

The family requests memorial contributions be made to Big Bend Hospice, an organization that provided the care and support needed to make Clara’s final days serene in the comfort of her own home.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.CulleysMeadowWoodFuneral.com for the Leonard family.