Leona Elwood Mccluey
Leona Elwood Mccluey
Leona Elwood McCluey was born March 11, 1923, near Smith
Center, Kansas and passed away June 10, 2013 of natural causes. Leona moved to
Idaho
in 1934 with her
parents Roy and Erma, and two brothers Warren and Bernard. The Elwood family
settled in Emmett and started a farm under the Homestead Act. Leona studied nursing
at St. Alphonsus and later at
Oregon
State
University
.
She graduated as a Registered Nurse and was inducted into the Army as a Second
Lieutenant in May of 1945, and honorably discharged September 1, 1946. Leona
had a passion for life and loved to see new places and try new things. She
worked as a model in
New York City
and tried her hand at being an actress. She was very involved with the Boise
Little Theatre Co. In the Late 1940’s Leona met her future husband while
working for the VA Hospital in
Boise
.
There she met Mac McCluey, a recovering polio victim. The two were married in
1958 in
Portland
OR. Lee was now the proud step-mom of three children, Michael, Cheryl and Kathy.
The couple moved several times and lived in places like Missoula, MT, and the
lavish Tonopah, NV. Many stories came out of Tonopah, a desolate town in the
middle of nowhere. Lee and Mac’s family grew in the early 60’s, adopting a baby
girl, Kimma, and later having a son, John. The McCluey’s last move was to
Boise
in 1967. Lee still
pursued a career in nursing, retiring several times before hanging up her
nursing license for good in the early 90’s. On her last day at the VA Hospital,
Lee was picked up at work in a hot air balloon for a ride home.
Leona was a true renaissance woman. Being a depression era
child, her way of life was one of conservation, saving, making do with what she
had and being innovative. She loved living the life of a farmer. Most of what
she had was grown or made by her. The dinner table usually consisted of only
things produced on the farm. Leona was involved in all types of arts and crafts
and has even won awards for her efforts. Lee was a life long member of the
ladies sorority organization, spending most of her membership years in the Beta
Sigma Phi chapter. Lee was also an elder in her church, Red Rock Christian. She
was always taking classes and trying to learn new things. One of her regrets
was that she couldn’t learn more, faster.
No matter what Leona was involved with she always made
friends, most of whom became life long friends. Everyone loved her and she
loved them in kind. These few words only offer a glimpse of how great a lady Lee
was. Leona is survived by her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
A funeral service will be held at 9:00 a.m. Monday, June 17,
2013, at Red Rock Christian Church. A
viewing will be held prior to the service.
Burial with military honors will be at 11:00 a.m. at the Idaho State
Veterans Cemetery.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Leona Elwood Mccluey, please visit our flower store.
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