Dean
Bradford Leckrone, 69 of Libby
Dean Bradford Leckrone, 69, of Libby died on Sunday, Dec. 17, 2017 at his home in Libby. He was born on April 11, 1948 in Libby, Mont. to Glen and Helen (Gompf) Leckrone. He attended Libby public schools and was part of the 1966 State Basketball Championship. In 1965, he was a member of the football team that won the state conference. He attended Carrol College on a scholarship and in Missoula played baseball.
Dean married Connie Roberts on Oct. 27, 1973. He was a railroad grader with his dad Glen at the Fisher River. He worked on the Rock Dam in Wenatchee, Wash. and also on the Libby Dam Project. He worked for UPS until he retired in 2009. He was a Teamster and a member of the Operator’s Union.
Dean’s greatest honors were his children and grandchildren. He would often be seen walking with his grandchildren to McDonalds for ice cream or to the park. He loved spending time at the family cabin up Leckrone Creek.
He was preceded in death by his parents and a daughter Heather Leckrone.
Survivors include his wife Connie; his children Lacey (Eric) Uithof, Dustin (Crystal) Leckrone, Kim Leckrone; siblings Charlene Leckrone, Derek (Ellen) Leckrone, Daren (Stephanie) Leckrone, Camilla (Bruce) Hage; grandchildren Rylin and Jaxson Uithof, Jaydin Quinly, Tysin Leckrone, Justin and Logan Brickey, and Alisa and Lily Lockman.
A Celebration of Life will be held at 2 p.m., on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018 at the VFW in Libby. Arrangements are by Schnackenberg & Nelson Funeral Home in Libby. Online condolences and memories may be shared at www.schnackenberg fh.com.
Paul O. Sather, 99
formerly of Troy
It is with sorrow that we announce the passing of Dr. Paul Sather after a long life as a well-loved family man, health practitioner, and legendary sportsman, athlete, and ballroom dancer.
Born in Spokane, Wash., he was raised in Troy, Mont., a once bustling rail center for the Great Northern Railroad. Paul was an avid fisherman and hunter from his early days, and excelled at football, basketball, track and baseball while maintaining high marks in school to eventually become valedictorian of his graduating high school class.
Paul opted for college at the University of Washington in 1936, resided at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, and dove into pre-med studies, graduating in 1940. He was accepted at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School where he graduated in Dec. 1943. In 1944, he enlisted in the Navy and was deployed to the South Pacific where he served as chief medical officer on Manus Island, the largest of the Admiralty Islands off Papua New Guinea.
After the war, while pursuing his medical career in San Francisco, he met Betty Ann Francis of Harrisburg, Pa., at an officer’s club party, whereupon he literally swept her off her feet on the dance floor. In 1947 they married and settled in San Francisco where Paul continued his residency in radiology at the Veteran’s Hospital. After two sons were born, Tom and Bill, the family moved to the town of Ross, in Marin County, Calif. A daughter, Jody, was born soon after and the family was settled.
The children attended Ross Grammar School and Redwood High School in Larkspur. Two weeks of every summer were spent at the lakeside cabin near Troy, Mont. to visit grandparents and cousins, fish, hike, pick huckleberries and commune with nature. In the winter there were trips to Squaw Valley for skiing. Always present was Paul’s steady demeanor and guiding hand. Whether putting for birdie at the Meadow Club, teaching a kid how to field a grounder or ordering wine for the table, he was confident and trustworthy with a refreshing touch of home-spun humor.
Dr. Sather’s practice took him on a rotation of hospitals, clinics, and radiology offices from Santa Rosa to South San Francisco, including San Quentin Penitentiary Hospital (where the boys got $.10 haircuts and cafeteria lunch, if they behaved!). For 25 years he provided his radiological expertise to the San Francisco State University Student Health Department, where he finished his career at the age of 92 years. He passed away just five days short of his 100th Christmas.
Paul is survived by his wife of 70 years, Betty Ann Sather; two sons, Tom (Darla) of Hamilton, Mont. and Bill (Kathleen) of Monroe, Wash., daughter Jody (Matt Friedman) of Santa Rosa, Calif.; and three grand daughters, Galen Sather-Heargreaves (Erik), Sarah Sather and Micaela Friedman.
He will be missed by his sister-in-law, Mary Breen of Santa Rosa, Calif. and an extended family of admiring nieces and nephews, the offspring of his sister, Marzella Sather Jones (Bill), of Aberdeen, Wash.
A graveside ceremony will be performed this coming summer in Troy, Mont.
Patsye
Marie
LeHew, 74 of Yaak
Patsye Marie LeHew, 74, of Troy, Mont. passed away Dec. 22, 2017 at Cabinet Peaks Medical Center in Libby. She was born May 22, 1943 in Plainview, Texas to Hubert Macom and Lela Mae (Anderson) Thorton.
Pat started her life in Texas and in her younger years she enjoyed riding horses. She served in the military as a WAC nurse. After serving, she returned home and went to work as a waitress. It was during that time that she met Monte and they were married three days later. They moved to Montana where they made their home. They had three children Danny, Rose, and Monte, Jr. Pat enjoyed caring for her family; sitting along the Yaak River; taking walks as she looked for flowers; and going dancing. She spent most of her life enjoying camping trips which included living out the centennial year in a wall tent in the Cabinet Mountains of Montana. She was always ‘sitting in the truck or car’ because she always wanted to be with Monte. Pat loved “first light in the mountains” even though she lost contact with them over the years. As time went on, she became a grandmother to five and great-grandmother to three. She had two brothers and five sisters in Texas.
Pat loved her family very much, her husband, sons and daughter. She has one granddaughter at West Point Academy and was proud of that. Her light was always her daughter, Rose, and her faith in God…always a faith in God.
Services for Pat were held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017 at Schnackenberg and Nelson Funeral Home Chapel in Libby with burial at the City of Libby cemetery. Online condolences and memories may be shared by visiting www.schnack enbergfh.com.
Cleone
Anderson Spiering,
88 of Libby
Cleone Anderson Spiering, 88, of Libby, died of natural causes on Jan. 4, 2018 at Cabinet Peaks Medical Center. She was surrounded by her family.
Cleone was born Sept. 8, 1929 in Albee, South Dakota to Roy and Treva (Heller) Anderson. She attended Aberdeen Teacher’s College after graduation from high school, becoming a 10 week wonder. She later received her B.A. from Spearfish Teacher’s College in 1963. On June 5, 1948 she was married to Merlin Spiering in Revillo, SD. Cleone worked as a teacher in a one room school house for 11 years while her husband farmed.
In 1959, Merlin, Cleone and their two daughters moved to Spearfish, SD. In 1965 they began traveling with the Boeing Minuteman Missile Program and Cleone gave up teaching. They traveled with Boeing until 1978 when they moved to Bull Lake, Mont. and purchased The Halfway House.
Widowed in 1987, Cleone lived out at Bull Lake until she asked her daughters for a chainsaw. She was then moved to Libby. While in Libby, she lived a full and independent life spending her time in her garden, with her family, playing cards with her friends, and going to bingo.
Cleone was preceded in death by her husband, Merlin Spiering; her daughter, Candace Maples; and her parents, Roy and Treva Heller Anderson.
She is survived by her daughter Pamela Peppenger; grandchildren Sydney (Steve) Ward, Sara (Shawn) Miller, Zachariah (Tracy) McNew, Corey (Jennifer) McNew, and Jessica Maples; Great Grandchildren Brandon (Malarie) Laffoon, Andrew (Belinda) Boswell, Nick Christopherson, Paige (Jimmy) Tolle, Kyle McNew, Chloe McNew, and Riley McNew; Great-Great Grandchildren Brady, Brody, James, Harper, and Braxley; Her grand-dogs Maya, Rudy, Molly, Miles, Daisy, Kanga, Moses, Kotah, Maggie, Daisy; Siblings Jowaine Bevers, Denniss (Gerry) Anderson, Jacquelyn (Jim) Sterry; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Please join us for a Celebration of Life and potluck that will be held on Saturday, Jan. 13 at 2 p.m. at the Elks in Libby. Donations can be made to CPMC Infusion Center’s Spreading Joy for Jenny program.
Arrangements are under the care of Schnackenberg & Nelson Funeral Home of Libby. Online condolences and memories may be shared by visiting www.schnack enbergfh.com.