Leona Clara (Keppers) FORD

KEPPERS, FORD, BALDYGA, JONES, BAER, BREJDA, WOODBURN, BODLAK

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 2/10/2024 at 13:06:56

December 21, 1919 ----- June 4, 2018

Leona Clara Ford was born December 21, 1919 on a farm in Eagle Grove, IA to Henry and Catherine Keppers. Growing up, she attended rural school and Eagle Grove High School. After High School, she was a teacher at country schools in Wright County, IA for 8 years, teaching grades K-8. Leona married Jasper Jestin Ford on December 30th, 1946. After their marriage, they relocated to the Chicago area. Leona and Jasper had seven children, who were born and raised in Marionette Park and La Grange, IL. Their children included Antoinette, Deborah, Catherine, Jestin, Susan, Rosemary and Jacqueline. Leona also had 15 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren.

Leona went to Hinsdale Nursing College, Hinsdale, IL, and became a Licensed Practical Nurse in 1971. She worked as a surgical nurse at Hinsdale Hospital for 18 years. She retired in 1991 and spent the next 12 years as an active member of several Catholic church groups where she enjoyed the company of many friends, making summer trips to her cabin on Lake Cornelia in Clarion, IA and traveling abroad. In her retirement, she also babysat two of her grandchildren, Jim and Jeremy Baldyga, part time. In 2001, Leona moved to St. Charles, IL where she resided for the next 9 years until she moved to Castle Rock, CO to be near her children Catherine Jones, Jestin Ford, Rosemary Baer and Jacqueline Baldyga and grandchildren.

In the final years of her life, Leona enjoyed going to church, listening to audio books, spending time with her family and participating in various arts and crafts. Leona was a devout Catholic and a dedicated and loving wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, daughter, sibling and friend who always put the needs of others before herself. People who encountered Leona throughout her life often described her as “an amazing woman and a very special person”.

Leona was preceded in death by her parents and all of her siblings including: Roger Keppers, Harold Keppers, Helen Keppers, Lillian Brejda and Bernice Woodburn. Leona was also preceded in death by her husband on November 30, 1972, her daughter Deborah Bodlak on April 27, 2014 and her daughter Rosemary Baer, on September 18, 2015. In Lieu of Flowers, the family suggests donations be made, in Leona’s name, to one of the following organizations: Catholic Charities of Denver OR Porter Hospice Foundation.

Memorial Service -- June 30, 2018 - 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM -- Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 204 S. Jackson Ave,, Eagle Grove, Iowa; Catholic Mass -- June 30, 2018 -- 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Eagle Grove, Iowa;
Burial -- June 30, 2018, 11:45 AM – 12:15 PM -- Calvary Cemetery, Eagle Grove, Iowa
Luncheon follows at 12:30 at the church;