Leah Josephine Bedford

Our mother, Leah Josephine Miller Bedford, was born in Fort Worth in August of 1937 to Albert and Azella Miller. She had two older brothers, (Albert) Aaron Jr and Joe, and a sister, Beryl. We lost Uncle Joe in 2015, and then Aunt Beryl this January, and Uncle Aaron in April. They are all gone from our sight now, but not from our hearts.

The Miller family home at 500 Connor in Ft. Worth was a linchpin for some of our family’s happiest summers. It was a long journey, coming in from Guam to visit our Miller cousins! We remember the pear, pecan, and peach trees, and the tarantulas. To this day, we remember the creak of hardwood floors and Grandma Miller’s special iced tea glasses.

Leah was a teacher through and through. After graduating from Polytechnic High School in Fort Worth, she attended Howard Payne University and graduated with her teaching degree. She then moved to Winters, Texas, for her first teaching job. There, Russell Bedford (our Aunt Rusty) met Leah. She told her brother, Dub, that he needed to meet the new schoolteacher, so she took him to church, where Leah was singing in the choir. Rusty said, “She charmed him right away.” Six months later, they were married.

Over the next twelve years, Leah and Dub moved wherever his work took them, first with the United States Air Force and then with Continental Airlines. They lost their first two little babies, but in 1967 were blessed with twins, Stephen and Rebecca. The next year, they moved to Guam with the founding of Continental Air Micronesia. Two more children, Robert and Catherine, soon followed, and by 1976, Leah was teaching full-time again, this time on Guam.

Raising kids, married to our Dad, and teaching at Sanchez High School, she traveled the joys and pains of life. Above all, Leah was a survivor! She successfully fought breast cancer and then ovarian cancer. She survived a heart attack, bypasses, and then again battled and conquered breast cancer. We lost our Dad in 1995, leaving her to continue her life journey as a widow. Those were the pains.

Her joys included her grandchildren. Stephen’s daughter, Olivia, was born in 1999, and Leah had to be with her first grandchild, so she moved to Arizona. A grandson, Andrew, came along two years later. Rob Norris, Cathy’s husband, graced her with two more grandsons, Luke and Kyle. She loved all four dearly.

Leah never stopped teaching. After retiring from her teaching career on Guam, she volunteered with a English as a Second Language groups, helping new immigrants, when she was in Texas and then again here in Arizona. She taught a little sign language to most of us.

Our last decade with her was full of Sundays at Cathy’s house, playing Aggravation and cards, and lots of laughter. We took her to movies, the theater, holiday lights, or church whenever possible. She managed two more trips to Texas, including one in April 2022, to celebrate Olivia’s college graduation and to see Beryl and Aaron, her final precious visit with them.

Fun things you may not know about Leah:

· She was a member of the Rose Petals singing group in college.

· She worked for NASA in the 60s on the Apollo program.

· She loved to snorkel when they moved to the islands, often sunburning her back from staying in too long.

· After our Dad passing, she and Jane Rayphand took off to visit Robert in Belgium.

· She loved to watch baseball, the Texas Rangers especially.

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