Leaon DeeRae Gronlund, age 75, of Amery, Wisconsin, passed away at Amery Memory Care on February 12, 2015, with her family at her side, as a result of a prolonged struggle with Alzheimers disease. She was born on August 1, 1939, to Walter and Caroline (Packer) Lindh at the Frederic hospital in Frederic, Wisconsin, the youngest of 3 daughters.
"Lonnie," as she was known by all her good friends and relatives, was baptized and confirmed in, and was a member of the Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Frederic.
Leaon attended the Frederic elementary schools and graduated from Frederic High School with its noted class of 57 students in the year 1957. She went on to graduate from Polk County Normal School in St. Croix Falls in 1959 and began her teaching career at an elementary school in rural Maplewood, Minnesota.
Early in 1959 she met the love of her life, Sherwin "Sherm" Gronlund, and they were united in marriage at the Pilgrim Lutheran Church, on December 19, 1959. The following year they moved to Amery, Wisconsin, and it was there that they were blessed with two daughters, Pam and Jane. She and Sherm became members of Amery's Congregational Church, UCC, and in the early years, Leaon was a Sunday School teacher, and later became the Sunday School supervisor. She also spent much time as a Girl Scout leader with the Amery scouts.
In 1967 she began teaching at Clear Lake High School, a career that lasted 30 years as a full-time teacher, and she continued as a substitute for the next 15. She originally taught speech and English classes, but as a "sub" she helped out in any other classroom. "Mrs. G," as she became known to her Clear Lake kids, was for many years the cheerleading coach, and she was the school's forensics advisor, taking many of her students to Madison for state competition. She, along with Sherm, worked for the past 20 years as a volunteer at the WIAA State Track and Field Meet in LaCrosse.
She spent 25 enjoyable years living on the shores of Bear Trap Lake, until they decided in 1997 to move to a Pondhurst condo in Amery. They bought their first travel trailer and spent their summers camping in Wisconsin and Minnesota, with special times of the year being the 4th of July and Labor Day stays near Hayward. Other great times were to Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, and many additional places, including England and France. During the grandchildren's high school and college years, she was usually there cheering as they competed in high school and college athletics; and she was an ardent, really passionate, Wisconsin Badger fan.
Leaon was honored in 2004 when she and Sherm were chosen to be the Amery Fall Festival Parade Marshals. She was an accomplished counted cross-stitch artist, with many pictures on her walls and on the walls of relatives and friends. She was a cancer survivor since 1994, and had continued with medicated control of rheumatoid arthritis for the last 28 years.
She was preceded in death by her mother and father, Caroline and Walter, and her sisters, Margie (Liljeberg) and brother-in-law Carl, and Norma (Nelson) and brother-in-law Andy. She is survived by her husband Sherm of Amery, her daughters Pam (Dave) White of Eau Claire and Jane (Brad) Ayer of Clear Lake. She is also survived by 3 grandchildren, Kaela (Ola) Wold of Kaua'i, Hawaii; Derek (Ingrid) Wold in the US Army in San Antonio, Texas; and Ryan Ayer of Chicago; and 4 great-grandchildren---Kallie and Kaisa in Hawaii, and Jiselle and Henrik in Texas; a special cousin—Junior (Donna) Lindh of Eureka, Wisconsin; special foreign exchange student daughter, Fiona (Richard) Lilgert of Helperby, North Yorkshire, UK; and many other special nephews, nieces, and other relatives, and many very good friends.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are requested to the family, which will be designated at a later date.
Visitation will be from 4 to 7 pm on Monday, February 16 at the Williamson – White Funeral Home, 222 Harriman Avenue North, Amery, WI and 1 hour prior to services at the church on Tuesday. Funeral services will be at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, February 17, 2015 at the Congregational Church in Amery. Interment will take place at a later date at the Northern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Spooner, WI.