Foltz, Leo Earl -- 1933 - 1994
FOLTZ, QUANDAHL, KELLY, TEKIPPE, ADAMATIS, DREW
Posted By: Bill Waters (email)
Date: 1/6/2012 at 13:45:34
Leo E, Foltz was born December 13, 1933 in Winneshiek County. The only son and oldest of three children born to Earl and Lillie (Quandahl) Foltz. He was baptized here at St. John’s on May, 24, 1946 and confirmed here on November 23, 1947.
Leo grew up on his parents' farm and received his elementary education in the rural schools of Winneshiek County He attended Decorah High School till the spring of 1952 when he enlisted in the army Stationed at Fort Louis, Washington, Leo acquired a taste for the Northwest that would prove fateful later on.
After his release from the army, Leo worked as a machinist for John Deere in Waterloo and for a company in Beloit, Wisconsin. During his time in Beloit, Leo met Martha Kelly through her brother David who had been a classmate of Leo's in Decorah. After a year's courtship, Leo and Martha were married in 1957.
Three children were born to them: Kelly in 1957, Darrel in 1959, and Johnny in 1960. After starting out in Beloit, Leo moved his family to Lenora, Minnesota where he rented a farm for two years and then to a farm near Sattre. Although Leo loved farming, it was hard going, especially for Martha who had not grown up on a farm. So after a year at Sattre Leo took a job with John Deere again in Waterloo, It was here that representatives from Boeing recruited Leo and another John Deere machinist for work in the aircraft industry out in Seattle, Once again the young family moved, and from 1962 To his retirement in 1992, Leo worked as a machinist in Seattle--mostly with Boeing, a few years with Western Gear. He loved his work, but he always retained his love for farming—a love reflected in his hobby of fixing up old tractors. He was a longtime, active member of the American Legion and the Eagles Club.
Leo's life was not without tragedy. He and Martha were divorced in 1975, and in 1980 they lost their youngest son Johnny in a car accident although he often thought about returning to Iowa, the ties of his children and his grandson, Chad were too strong to deny. He died of a heart attack on Monday, June 13, 1994 at Veterans Hospital in Seattle.
Leo is survived by his mother Lillie of Independence, Iowa, former wife Martha of Mountlake Terrace, Washington; daughter Kelly Ann of Mountlake Terrace; son Darrel and his wife Tambi and their son Chad, all of Lynnwood, Washington; two sisters, Shirley Tekippe of Independence and Lois Drew of Hampton, Iowa; and his half-sister Thelma Adamatis of Fox Lake. Illinois
He was preceded in death by his father Earl and his son John.
God bless Leo's memory among us.
Submitted by John Matter jmatter@q.com from Funeral Home information
Locust Cemetery aka Saint John
Winneshiek Obituaries maintained by Jeff Getchell.
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