Leona was born in Fresno, California on May 19, 1934. She attended Westmont College in Santa Barbara, majoring in voice. Leona’s voice was a blessing to many weddings and occasions through her life, including singing her children to sleep every night. She minored with a teaching degree and later received her Master’s Degree in Elementary Math. She taught many grades, her favorite being Kindergarten. She was a perpetual student, which made her a very creative teacher who was remembered by her students years after they graduated.
She met Ray Eppert while serving with the Navigators at the Cedar Avenue Baptist Church in Fresno and married him in 1960. They attended the Mennonite Brethren Church in Fresno, and then the Living Word Church in Clovis. They lived in Fresno, CA for 30 years and raised their 2 children, Tom and Robyn.
They moved to the Burbank Hills in the San Fernando Valley, north of Los Angeles for 5 years and Leona taught in their church school. Then in 1994, Ray and Leona retired and moved to Colorado, to the small, peaceful town of Monument. There, they attend the Ascent Church (Tri-Lakes Chapel) on Woodmoor Drive.
Leona is being welcomed in heaven by her parents, Yervant and Victoria Thomas, and her elder sister, Doreen Rettig. She is survived by her husband Ray Eppert, her daughter and son-in-law Robyn and Kemit Millheim, who cared for them in their old age in Monument, her son and daughter-in-law Tom and Lisa Eppert, and her grandchildren Amy and Jonathan Eppert who live in San Diego, California.
A Celebration of Life will be organized and announced this coming Spring.
Leona touched many lives with her smile, laughter, and hysterical wit.
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