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08/18/2018 - Leona Myrtle McMaster
Graveside services for Leona Myrtle McMaster, age 96, of Hot Springs, SD will be at 1:00 PM on Saturday, August 18, 2018 at the CrawfordCityCemetery under the direction of Pastor Matt Parker.
A memorial has been established for the Harrison Bible Church. Another option in honor of Leona is to do a kind deed to make someone else’s life easier.
Leona passed away on August 2, 2018 at the Pine Hills Retirement Community in Hot Springs, SD.
Leona was born on July 11, 1922 at the farm home of her parents, Martin and Marie (Meyers) Paulsen, near Hazard, NE. When she was five, the family moved by immigrant train to manage ranches in northwestern Nebraska and southwestern South Dakota. The fifth of eight children, she helped her parents at a young age, driving the hay-stacker team behind the sweep. Leona attended one-room schoolhouses until the family moved to Ardmore, SD, where she attended high school.
Leona met her future husband, Clair Anderson, while attending Saturday night dances in Ardmore. They were married on August 29, 1938 in Hot Springs, SD and moved to work on the Walter Anderson ranch, 20 miles north of Harrison, NE. They had two daughters. She served on the school board and helped to organize 4-H clubs and the Sunday school. She lived there until Clair's death on November 5, 1962. Three months later, Leona moved to Lusk, WY and opened her business, J&L Jewelry. She was active in the community, participating in card clubs, bird-watching outings, the garden club and the rock hunting club. She served on the R.S.V.P. board to raise funds to open the nursing home and senior center in Lusk, where she organized craft activities twice a month.
Leona married Andrew McMaster in 1967. After his death in 1986, she moved to Scottsbluff, NE, where she continued to be active in card clubs, bird watching and the Westway Christian Church Bible Study. She began researching her family's genealogy, going back several generations for both of her parents' families, and organized several family gatherings, which also included many of Clair's relatives with whom she kept in close contact by phone and mail. Leona was an enthusiastic collector of coins, stamps, dishes and Fairburn agates. She loved the outdoors. As a child, she rode horseback with her brothers to check their traplines. As an adult, she instilled her love of nature within her children and grandchildren, taking them hunting, fishing and rock hunting. She also shared her love of crafting with her family, giving many gifts of macramé and crocheted afghans and tablecloths. She also loved watching her Denver Nuggets on TV; her family knew they'd better plan their phone calls accordingly around the team schedule. She moved to Prairie Pines Lodge in Chadron, NE in 2009 and to Pine Hills Retirement Community in Hot Springs, SD in 2015.
Leona was preceded in death by her parents; brothers Ira, Joe, George “Sam,” Leo and Jim; sisters Pearl Mintz and Darlene Case; husbands Clair and Andy; and special friends Frank Barcal, Henry Funk and Kenny Gropp.
Leona is survived by daughters Tonita (Joe) Whiteaker of Harrison, NE and Sandra Torrey of Hot Springs, SD; grandchildren Greg (Ferdeneta) Whiteaker of Cheyenne, WY, Jodi (Jerry) Richardson of Parker, CO, Lesa Walter of Rapid City, SD, and Jill (Skip) Dunn of Aurora, CO; great-grandchildren Kaili Whiteaker of Colorado Springs, CO, Claire Richardson and Ellie Richardson of Denver, CO, and Joe Whiteaker and Mark Whiteaker of Cheyenne, WY; numerous nephews and nieces, including Rhonda (Miles) Hashman of Alliance, NE; and sister-in-law Louise Wagner of Laurel, MT.
Throughout her life, Leona spent many hours caring for elderly and ailing family members and friends.
Chamberlain McColley’s Funeral Home in Hot Springs is in charge of arrangements for Leona Myrtle McMaster.
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