Leona May Larson was born Nov. 23, 1920, at Declo, Idaho, the youngest of six children born to Peter Clark and Emma Darrington. Her sister died at birth, so she grew up in Declo with her two brothers and two sisters. She was the youngest by five years. After graduating from Declo High School, she attended two years at Albion Normal School, where she received a teaching certificate and was a participant in many collegiate musical performances.

Leona met and married Elden J. Larson, when he returned from an LDS Church mission, at the Salt Lake Temple on Apr. 11, 1941. As a married woman, her teaching certificate was not renewed and she became a “stay-at-home mom” until 1959, when she and Elden became owners of Larson Donuts and Pies and later operated The Larson Bakery on 21st Street in Lewiston. When her children began college and missions, she became a cook at Lewis-Clark State College (LCSC) and then a deli manager for Rosauer’s Food Stores in Clarkston. After retiring, she assisted at both the senior centers in Lewiston and Clarkston, serving meals to seniors for 20 years as a way “to give back” to the communities that she loved.

Music was her second love (Elden was always her first love). Everywhere the family lived she was either the choir director, the musical program creator, the meeting chorister, and/or the ward music specialist. She taught her children to sing and to love music. The family holiday tradition was to visit all the nursing homes and homes of friends, singing carols and delivering goodies that she made for them. It wasn’t really Christmas without an hour-long musical at church, which she had created; then on Christmas Eve, our entire family would visit all our friends and some shut-ins and sing three or four carols at every door.

Leona was a gifted writer and genealogist. She wrote many volumes of family history for both her and Elden’s families. Her yearly gift to her children was an updated account of family stories, poems and achievements. She assisted Elden in writing and documenting the establishment of the LDS Church in Lewiston in a book entitled, “Building a Stake.”

Leona and Elden moved to Lewiston in 1951. They loved the mild winters and their church friends. Elden passed away in May 1991 and Leona continued to live in the family home until 2010, when she moved to South Jordan, Utah, to be near her children, Marilyn, Shirley and Jay, who had also recently moved there. While in Utah, she lived in two different assisted-care living centers and, for a time, with Shirley. Leona also moved to Bandon, Ore., again to be near Shirley and David, who had bought a home and returned to Oregon. Leona resided at the Pacific View, Memory Care Unit under the supervision of Debbie Wilson, one of her granddaughters and the executive director of this nursing home. Here, Shirley was also able to visit and assist with her care until her death on Friday, Jan. 27, 2017.

Leona was preceded in death by her husband, Elden; her parents; and all of her siblings, Vera, Mary, Leslie and Bill; one grandchild, Lenda Marie Pratt; and many of her friends, too numerous to mention. She is survived by her daughters, Shirley May Pratt (David) of Bandon, Ore., and Marilyn Kay Meng (Richard) of Logan, Utah; her sons, Jay (Mary Charlotte) of South Jordan, John Clark (Dixie), and Rodney D. (Cindy) of Lewiston; and 26 grandchildren and their extended families — now totaling more than 100 descendents.

Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Monday, Jan. 30, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1123 16th St., Clarkston, and burial will follow at the Normal Hill Cemetery near LCSC, next to Elden, her eternal companion. Please make donations payable to the LDS General Missionary Fund; or to a charity of your choice, in lieu of flowers.

Service Information

Date & Time

Monday, January 30, 1:00 PM

Location

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - Clarkston Chapel
1123-16th Avenue
Clarkston, Washington 99403

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