Leona Marie Schlabach

Leona M. Schlabach, 96, passed from this life on Monday, October 21, 2024, at the Pleasantview Home in Kalona. A funeral service will be held Saturday, October 26, 2024, at 10:00 AM at Sunnyside Mennonite Church in Kalona. The service will be available via Livestream at the Sunnyside Mennonite Church, Kalona, Iowa YouTube pages. Burial will follow at Fairview Cemetery. A visitation will be held Friday, October 25, 2024, from 5 – 7 PM at Sunnyside Mennonite Church. A memorial fund has been established for Gospel Echo’s Prison Ministry, Sunnyside Mennonite Church or Pleasantview Home. 

Leona Marie Schlabach was born December 26, 1927, in Kalona, Iowa, the daughter of Noah D. and Bertha (Miller) Schlabach. She attended Hartsock and Middleburg Rural Schools and attained her GED in Oregon. In 1965 she moved to Oregon to be close to her brother Perry and his family. She lived there until returning to Kalona in 2003. While in Oregon Leona worked for the Portland Glove Company for 25 years, and as a cook at Rock of Ages Home. She was a member of the Sheridan Mennonite Church in Sheridan, Oregon for 38 years and upon returning to Kalona was a member of the Sunnyside Mennonite Church. Leona volunteered at the Crowded Closet and the Pleasantview Home. She enjoyed quilting, cooked at several church camps and family reunions, and graded Bible courses for Gospel Echo’s Prison Ministry. She was a special “grandma” to her nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews, and loved spending time with them.

Survivors include her brother Perry (Virginia) Schlabach of Jefferson, OR; sister Susie Yoder of Kalona; sister-in-law Velma Schlabach of Dallas, TX; family friend Kathy Galer of McMinnville, OR and Sarasota, FL; three nieces: Linda Tones of Iowa City, IA, Lou Ann Miller of Kalona, and Kathy Schlabach of Iowa City, IA; three nephews: Larry Schlabach of Albany, OR, Roger Schlabach and Leon Schlabach of Jefferson, OR; and two Great-nieces and 5 Great-nephews.

Preceding Leona in death were her parents, an infant sister and brother, sister Barbara Schlabach, two brothers: John and Raymond Schlabach, and her nephew Royce Schlabach.