Memorials › Dora Luella Leeper Don
Dora Luella Leeper Don
4 Mar 1906 – 22 May 2008
| Birth | 4 Mar 1906 |
| Death | 22 May 2008 |
| Cemetery | Westminster Memorial Park Westminster , Orange County , California , USA |
| Added by | Chuck Schubert on 11 Nov 2019 |
| FaG | https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27165762 |
Bio
Dora Luella Leeper Don Mar. 4, 1906 - May 22, 2008 From the horse and buggy days to the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, World War II and the Atom Bomb, the Moon, to the World Wide Web and the Information Age Dora was like a whirlwind of energy and eagerly latched onto everything thrown her way and excelled at all of it. She was a doer and only used money as a necessity. Wealth and its trappings were never considered a necessity. Dora was born in David City, NE. Her parents separated when she was five and she then lived with her doting grandparents, Ellice and Charlie, and other family members. Her independence flourished under an umbrella of family members who uniquely provided the skills of life and music. She played instruments so well she was given lessons and became great pals with her Grandfather, who honed her talents. She learned to play the piano, violin, drums and other instruments. She also learned to dance the popular dances of the twenties, after having won a jigging contest when she was very young. She loved to watch horses and her Grandmother showed her how to cook, enjoy dandelion greens, pigweed, wild winter onions, etc. She also learned to make soap, butter, etc. and learned what medicinal value foods had, such as honey for your heart, etc. Dora and Bill were married July 15, 1923, in two different counties in Wyoming, which is another tale. Fun and laughter were very important to her psyche. Even the Depression, with young sons Max and Vernon, and her ever patient husband, Bill, was endured with tolerance and good humor. She became an avid fly-fisherman after watching Bill catch trout. Dora owned and operated a restaurant in Boulder, Colorado; she always had a meal for any hobos; she never turned away a friend; and we were never surprised to see that Lillian, a friend, and her son had come during the night since no door was ever locked. Her sons would come home on a Friday evening, to a theater of laughter and music, with Dora in the center, playing her favorite piano music, and everyone urging her on, which didn't take much. She met at her restaurant, a football great named Byron "Whizzer" White, an All American at Colorado University in Boulder, Colorado who become a Supreme Court Justice; met Glen Miller of the Big Band era and started oil painting in earnest. With World War II on, she remodeled a house, sold it, used the profit to move to Oregon, where she saw an UFO but didn't realize it until after she turned 90; became a photography assistant and then she went to Southern California, to support the war effort by working at Douglas Aircraft. She and Bill went to the horse races on weekends. When the war ended, Max and Vernon came home from the Navy and the Army. Dora became Manager at the Palm Desert store of Waltah Clark's Hawaiian Shop, after repeatedly being "top sales" in previous stores. She was a "people driven person", who was genuinely interested in people who looked great in what she suggested they wear, resulting in repeat sales. Waltah had her "dress up" the windows, never changing anything, while Jolie Gabor came to watch her. She met President Eisenhower and said he was "very polished." She met movie stars by the dozens, including Lena Horne, Clark Gable, a "very classy Barbara Stanwyck," Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Elizabeth Taylor, and had a very funny encounter with Fred McMurray in Westwood Village, near UCLA. At another time we went to a Twenties movie in Westwood and when we emerged from the theater, she started doing the Charleston down the sidewalk, stopping foot and car traffic, much to the amusement of everyone watching. Car horns honked and pedestrians applauded. She was an excellent dancer, having honed her talents in the Twenties. The only time she was seen "knocked to her knees", was when youngest son, Vernon was diagnosed with terminal cancer and died at 39, cutting short a very promising career as an Engineer on the Apollo Program. Dora was down but not out. Mom personified Eleanor Roosevelt's saying "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift; that's why they call it the present." In a moment of candor some years back, Dora said, "Boy, I just heard I may be the oldest person in Broadway Plaza. Quite a few of those people seem older than me!" She always maintained that "Laughter is the best medicine." Her art work got better until she couldn't see to paint and to read music. That was when the light started going out. However, a picture painted about five years ago is a favorite. Dora was a Survivor First Class and always enjoyed telling a good (clean) joke. Thanks to The Everett Clinic's Dr. Lee, Jennifer Tobon; The Partner Program consisting of Velda and Marge, and the many caring care-givers at Sunrise View; and a special thanks to volunteer, Loretta, whom Dora referred to as an Angel. Also, thanks to Hospice. Dora is survived by her son, Max (Marion); grandchildren, Joanne (John Grosvenor), Janet (Jim Sebring), Chris (Jeff Jaeger), Patricia, Gary (Chris), and Doug ( ex-wife, Claudia); great-grandchildren, Hilary (Michael Rubin), Jane, Matt, Zachary, Geoff, Greg, Joshua, Jason, Crystalyn, Erin and Michelle. Dora is also survived by a few distant relatives in Wyoming and Colorado.. In addition, Dora is survived by an unknown number of relatives on her father, Don Leeper's side of the family. Dora was preceded in death by husband, William H. Don and son, Vernon (Eve, dec.). Services will be held for the family at 2:30 p.m., Thursday, May 29, 2008, at Westminster Memorial Park in Westminster, California, followed by a graveside ceremony. Please make Memorial Contributions to PAWS or any horse recovery program. Arrangements under care of Solie Funeral Home. Published in The Herald (Everett) on 5/28/2008.
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