Dorothy Leeper

Dorothy Leeper, 94, of Oshkosh, went to be with her Lord and Savior on Saturday evening, March 23, 2013 peacefully at the
Garden County Nursing Home.

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Thursday, March 28, 2013, at the Holechek Funeral Home in Oshkosh with Pastor Maynard McCarthy of the Oshkosh Assembly of God officiating. Interment will follow in the Ash Hollow cemetery near Lewellen.

There will be no visitation and the casket will be closed.

A memorial has been established in Dorothy’s name to the Garden County Nursing Home Activities Fund or to the Assembly of God Church in Oshkosh.

Family and friends may sign the guest book and leave condolences online at www.holechekfuneralhomes.com.

Holechek Funeral Home in Oshkosh is serving Dorothy’s family.

Dorothy Lee Leeper was
born on April 23, 1918 near Lewellen to Samuel Van Allen and Edmonia Mae (Johnson) Delatour. She spent the early part of her childhood roaming the sandhills of Nebraska north of Lewellen on the OT (Delatour) Ranch and attending school in the one-room schoolhouse which was located a short horseback ride from her home. Part of her later schooling took place at St. Patrick’s Academy in Sidney, Nebraska. She graduated from high school at Lewellen in 1937.

On November 27, 1937, she was united in marriage to Alva Cranmore. She always said one of the happiest times of her life was her first summer of marriage living on the Fish hay meadow in a tent and working for eggs and cream. The couple later farmed near Broadwater until Alva’s death.

Dorothy continued to live in the Oshkosh area. She was a member of the Wesleyan Church of Lewellen and then a member of the Oshkosh Assembly of God Church. She worked several different jobs. She worked as a night attendant at the old nursing home in Lewellen (now the Gander Inn) and as a cook at some local restaurants. She and second husband, Albert (Mac) McGown were married in July of 1966 and ran a bakery in Oshkosh for a short period of time. After Mac’s death in 1968, she married Ed Leeper in January of 1969. She worked many years at Marshalltown Instruments and retired from
there.

Dorothy cared deeply for her family. She was always a good listener and one to go to when troubles came your way. Dorothy’s home was always open to family and friends. She was known as an excellent cook and baker. One of her great joys was having the blue ribbon angel food cake or canned good at the county fair. Dorothy’s family delighted in being at her home for special occasions and hearing stories of her grandfather who had been one of the pioneering cattle ranchers in Nebraska, of sandhills barn dances that would last into the early morning hours, and tales of the Dust Bowl. At her grandchildren’s request, she would often give a demonstration of the Charleston.

She is survived by daughters, Donna and husband, Harold Sanford of Oshkosh, Lairie and husband, Cliff Coleman of Alliance, Sue and husband Richard Kamler of Lemoyne, and son, Alva (Butch) and wife, Melanie Cranmore of Marquette; 10 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; 4 great-great grandchildren; step-children William, George, and Katherine; numerous step-grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and host of many other relatives, friends and neighbors.

She was preceded in death by her 3 husbands; 6 sisters, Mildred, Josephine, Helen, Pauline, Kathleen, and Joan; 3 brothers, Dar, Sam, and Eugene; and stepson, Joseph.