March 01, 1921 - November 10, 2015

Leone lived her life wholeheartedly

Leone died peacefully the afternoon of November 10, 2015 at the Hearthstone Retirement Living facility in Seattle, Washington.

Leone was born on March 1, 1921 in Litchfield, Minnesota, the first child of Lillian, nee Anderson, and Martin August Peterson. She grew up on a farm outside of Atwater, Minnesota with her parents and two siblings, sister Jean and brother Jerry. She attended a one room school house until the age of 13 and graduated from Atwater High School in 1939.

Leone married Gerald B. Holm on January 17, 1942. They had three children--Charles, Richard and Kathleen. Charles died September 30, 1963 in a car accident while based at Fort Bragg, NC. Gerry died February 2, 1965 during surgery.

Leone married Donald C. Kragenbring on March 6, 1969. Donald died of a heart attack on June 26, 1976.

Leone loved her 85 years in Atwater. She was an active member in the Immanuel Lutheran Church, where she taught Sunday school and participated in the Woman’s Evangelical Lutheran Church Association (WELCA). She was Cub Scout den mother for several years, organized and chaired the first Lucia Day, and was the first woman to serve on the church council. She also worked as a hostess at a supper club at Green Lake, in retail at a woman’s dress shop in Willmar, and was a licensed beautician. She developed a food truck catering business for auctions and other events. She was Atwater's Community Education coordinator for 8 years. In this capacity she organized many successful community events including a series of sold out bus trips to diverse venues. She loved to travel, visiting many places in the US and abroad.

In October of 2006, Leone moved to Seattle to be with her children, Richard, Kathleen, and their families. She loved being with her grandchildren watching them grow into adults and participating in important milestones in their lives—birthdays, holiday celebrations, marriages, and the births of their children. Her greatgrandchildren were bright spots in her life. Leone's last 9 years were spent at the Hearthstone Retirement home, surrounded by good friends in a beautiful environment with a loving, caring, and skilled staff.

Leone lived her life wholeheartedly. She brought beauty, happiness and warmth to those whose lives she touched. She overcame the tragedies in her life with great courage and strength and celebrated life’s joys with warmth and gratefulness. Her strength, humor and resilience serve as hope, inspiration and encouragement to those she left behind.

Leone is survived by her brother Jerry Peterson, her children and their spouses: Richard and Mary and Kathleen and Jim – her grandchildren, stepgrandhildren, spouses and partners: Andrew and Shanda Holm, Evan and Karuna Holm, Katy and Daniel Horton, Benjamin Ball and Nikoline Nelson, Sara Ball, Alexey Ball and Jenny Sugden – her great-grandchildren: Eleanor and Georgia Holm; Anabelle, Harrison, and Annika (born five days after Leone died but who was much on her mind) Horton; and Abigail and Simon Ball.

Leone was preceded in death by her parents Lillian and Martin Peterson, husband Gerald, son Charles, second husband Donald and sister Jean.

FUNERAL INFORMATION

Memorial services for Leone:

Seattle, WA: 10:00 am on November 25, 2015 at The Hearthstone Chapel, 6720 East Green Lake Way N., Seattle, WA 98103.

Atwater, MN: 11:00 am on December 12th at the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Atwater, Minnesota, 302 3rd Street S, Atwater, MN 56209.

DONATIONS

Please direct memorials to:

The Immanuel Lutheran Church of Atwater, MN, 302 3rd Street S, Atwater, MN 56209

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research- www.michaeljfox.org