APPLEGATE, Ellen "Louise" (LEEPER)
LEEPER, BEAVERS, APPLEGATE, HARTLEY, BERNHARDT, HELTON, DUER, HYATT
Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 12/29/2017 at 04:42:12
Ellen "Louise" (Leeper) Applegate
August 8, 1924 ~ October 10, 2017Leon Journal-Reporter
Leon, Decatur County, Iowa
Thursday, October 19, 2017Ellen Louise Applegate, age 93, died October 10, 2017, at Westview Acres in Leon, Iowa.
Louise, as she was known, debunked any stereotypical notions that a woman should be soft, delicate, or reserved. Instead, Louise was tough, strong-willed, and not afraid to be seen or heard. She loved to dance and her laugh was often the loudest. When Louise entered the room, you felt it – she was a force to be reckoned with.
Louise stayed stoic in times of struggle, born on the precipice of the Great Depression, on August 8, 1924, in Center Township of Decatur County, Iowa, she spent the golden years of her childhood fighting to survive on a small farm alongside her parents, Leon and Grace (Beavers) Leeper and siblings, Florence, Ronald, and Miles. She was particularly devoted to her mother, who had endured the pain of losing Louise’s older brother, Raymond, in a childhood accident. It was a grief Louise herself would come to know years later when her youngest son, Timothy, died at birth.
Throughout her life, Louise handled such hardships with hard work. After graduating from Leon High School in 1942, she went to work at the Decatur County Courthouse. When World War II mobilized manufacturing, Louise also moved, to Kansas City, Missouri, where she worked for Pratt and Whitney Aircraft and ABC Financial until marriage and family called her back to Iowa. She wed Allen Blair Applegate in Lucas County, Iowa on August 23, 1947. They made their early homes in Knoxville and Allerton, Iowa, where Louise worked on the family farm and cared for three small children, Allen, Jo Ellen, and Bill. In 1963, the family moved to Leon, Iowa where Louise worked for the Leon Sale Barn, Applegate Hog Yards, O’Bryan Brothers, SuperValue, and Decatur County Hospital, from which she later retired.
Like all her work, Louise tackled motherhood with tenacity. She was supportive of her children and their activities and was meticulous about making a home for them. She was an avid gardener, a talented cook, and an excellent baker – pies and homemade cinnamon rolls were never in short supply.
In addition to her family, Louise tirelessly shared her talents with others. When members of her church grieved the loss of loved ones, she brought them comfort via countless baked goods and meals. While working as a cook for the hospital, she helped care for community members who were ill.
As the years passed, Louise approached seniority with self-determination, having been divorced, she made a life for herself on her own terms. She was fearless, fiercely independent, and a force until then end, even as she was loosing the battle with Alzheimer’s dementia, Louise fought to remain in her home as long as possible. Surely, there is grace in having that much grit!
Left to celebrate the strength of her spirit are her children, Allen and Deb Applegate of Leon, Jo Ellen and Raymond Hartley of Smithville, Missouri, and Bill Applegate of Leon; her six grandchildren, Patrick and Angela Hartley of Leon and their children, Mason, Xean, and Spencer, Todd and Tricia Applegate and their children, Alaina, Mya, and Paxton, of Leon, Kim and Terry Bernhardt and their children, Ethan and Emma, of Kansas City, Missouri, Trent Helton of Ames, Iowa, Brodi and Tanner Duer of Altoona, Iowa, and Hayes Applegate of Leon; brother, Miles and Gladys Leeper of Garden Grove, Iowa; several nieces and nephews; cousins; and friends.
Preceding Louise in death are her son, Timothy; her parents; brothers, Raymond Leeper and Ronald Leeper and wife, Betty; and sister, Florence (Leeper) Hyatt and husband, Charles.
Funeral services will be held at the Slade – O’Donnell Funeral Home in Leon, Iowa at 2 p.m. Monday, October 16, 2017, with Pastor Rick Hawkins officiating. Burial will be in the Leon Cemetery, Leon, Iowa.
Memorials may be given to the HCI office in Mt. Ayr, Iowa.
Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, December of 2017
Decatur Obituaries maintained by Constance McDaniel Hall.
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