Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death.
Edith “Kitty” Leabo, 93, a resident of the Dalles, Ore., died peacefully at Mary Alva’s Senior Care, her home, after suffering health issues on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017.
She was born Aug. 16, 1924, in Laurel, Mont., outside Billings to Barney and Katherine Kiedrowski. She was the second of four children, all her siblings proceeded her in death.
She grew up in a railroad town where her father worked long and hard and her mother raised the children. The whole family worked to support each other during her childhood.
After high school, she moved to Billings to start nurses training. She graduated as a registered nurse. She took a job at the Van Port hospital in the Portland area and was working during the Van Port flood. She met Darrell after he returned from the war and they were married for 57 years.
Her nickname “Kitty” was given to her by the doctors at the hospital because they got frustrated in pronouncing her Polish name Kiedrowski and shortened it to “Kitty.”
She is survived by son, Don, Auburn, Wash.; four grandchildren; four great-grandchildren, Kathy and Jeff Valendrer, Boise, Idaho, and their children, Travis, Kirsten, and Braydon, Jerry Carter, Duvall, Wash., and his son Nicholas, Jessica Wilcox, Portland, Ore., and Nick Wilcox, Issaquah, Wash.
One of her greatest passions was baking. She is well known for her cookies, pies and cakes. She was always baking and giving away her creations to make other people happy. She also loved helping Darrell with Babe Ruth Baseball and was a huge Seattle Mariners fan.
She was a member of St. Peter Catholic Church in The Dalles and was a founding member in the starting and success of the religious articles store.
Mass of Christian burial is to be held at St. Peter Catholic Church on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017 at 11 a.m. Spencer, Libby and Powell Funeral Home is in care of arrangements.
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