Nels LEKWA

LEKWA, LONG

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 4/13/2013 at 14:18:57

January 12, 1899 --- February 4, 1982

Former Clear Lake resident Nels Lekwa, 83, of Mena, Arkansas, died Thursday Feb 4, 1982 in Mena.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Church of Christ, Clear, Lake with the Rev. Steve Nicholson officiating. Burial will be in the Clear Lake Cemetery. Mr. Lekwa was born Jan. 12, 1899 in Dows. In the 1940's he operated a chicken hatchery and the Minneapolis-Moline Machinery Shop in Thornton. He entered the Navy during World War II. He married Zilphy Long on Feb. 4, 1944 in San Francisco. From 1948 to 1950 he owned a hardware business at Fertile. He then moved to Dows and worked as a carpenter. He then moved to Clear Lake in 1958, where he owned and operated Lekwa's Modern Cottages on Clear Lake's south shore for more than 16 years. He sold some property located near Bay Side in Clear Lake to the state. It is now known as the Lekwa Wildlife Refuge Area. He moved fro Clear Lake to Texas in 1975. In 1979, he moved to Mena, Ark., where he was a charter member of Faith Christian Church. He was also a member of the Church of Christ in Clear Lake. He is survived by his wife, Zilphy, Mena, Ark.; a son Larry, Mena; two grandchildren and two brothers, Henry, Iowa Falls and Clarence, Davenport.