St. Mary's/St. Martin's CemeteryDubuque County, IowaUploaded 5/17/2014 by
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[Email]Dubuque Telegraph Herald - March 12, 2012
WORTHINGTON, Iowa -- Leona L. Behel, 87, of 317 Second Ave. SW, Worthington, died at 11:25 p.m. Saturday, March 10, 2012, at her home in Worthington, surrounded by her family.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 14, at St. Paul's Catholic Church, Worthington, with the Rev. Dennis Quint officiating. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, Cascade. Friends may call from 2 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 13, at Reiff Funeral Home, Dyersville, where there will be a wake service at 4 p.m.
Leona was born on Dec. 31, 1924, in Garryowen,, daughter of Eugene and Laura (Hosch) Cigrand. She was a 1943 graduate of the former St. Mary's High School in Cascade. She attended the University of Dubuque where she received her teaching certificate.
She married Rawson "Ross" Behel on Nov. 10, 1955, in Miamisburg, Ohio; he preceded her in death on May 18 1982.
She taught in the Dubuque County rural schools and St. Paul's in Worthington for 25 years.
After her retirement, Leona continued to do volunteer work at St. Paul's School and the Worthington Senior Citizens. In 1988, she was the recipient of the Governor's Award for Volunteerism from Gov. Terry Brandstad. She was a member of St. Paul's Parish and its Altar and Rosary Society, for which she served as lector and Eucharistic minister. She also was a member of RSVP of Dubuque and several euchre card clubs.
Leona had a love for cooking, birdwatching, gardening and flowers.
Surviving are a son, Leslie Behel, of New Vienna, Iowa; two daughters, Melodie (Dave) White, of Worthington, and Bonnie (Norman) Imes, of Oklahoma City; eight grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; five stepgrandchildren; two sisters, Doris (Carl) Neiers, of Guttenberg, and Carol Cigrand, of Cascade; a sister-in-law, Grace Cigrand, of Cascade; and a brother-in-law, Francis "Skip" Manternach, of Cascade.
She also was preceded in death by her parents; two sisters, Betty Manternach and Virginia Gross; a brother, Robert E. Cigrand; her father and mother-in-law, Joe and Zura (Rawson) Behel; and two brothers-in-law, Leo J. Gross and Martin J. Behel.