Leona Isler

Memorial services for Leona Allene Isler will be held at 2 pm, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010 at First United Methodist Church with Rev. Gorton Smith and Pastor Stephanie Harmon officiating. Leona passed away on August 24, 2010. According to family legend, Leona Isler was born August 9, 1922 in Caldwell, KS. However, the doctor incorrectly documented her birth date as August 12, 1922 and this was the date she used all her life. She was born to Frank Macklin and Etta Macklin. She was raised by her mother Etta Faulkenberg and her step father George Faulkenberg. While working for Douglas Aircraft, Leona met her husband Roy Dean Isler when he taught preflight to aviation cadets in Santa Ana, CA. They were married June 11, 1943. Three years later they moved to San Jon, New Mexico and then two years later they left for her husband Roy to become the managing partner in the concession store at Conchas Dam. Leona worked at Conchas Dam as the reservation clerk for the lodge and cabins, the cashier in the coffee shop, clerked and cashiered the stores, ordered supplies and merchandise, and did the bookkeeping. Roy and Leona lived there for nine years raising their son Reid Allen Isler who was born in 1947. The family moved to Tucumcari, New Mexico, where Leona owned a ladies dress shop and began her love of oil painting. The family then moved to Livermore, CA where Roy became the administrator of the Regional Occupational Program for Alameda County. Leona established a successful employment agency named the Arroyo Agency providing aviation personnel. Their son Reid was killed in the line of duty May 18, 1968 in South Viet Nam. Reid, a Corpsman, was rendering assistance to a wounded Marine under heavy fire. He was posthumously honored with a Bronze Star medal for his heroic actions. In 2005, Roy and Leona made a generous gift to the ENMU Foundation in Portales, NM establishing a charitable gift annuity. Their philanthropic generosity has established the Reid Allen Isler Memorial Scholarship Fund for education, fine arts and pre-med students. For the past nine years, Leona taught oil painting classes at the Roswell Adult and Senior Center. She was a member of The Gallery and displayed her work there. Leona touched many lives with her love of painting and has many students who will miss her fun loving attitude and helpful hints. Leona was a good mother, a dedicated wife and a kind friend. Leona will be remembered for her quick wit, zest for life, and the sparkle in her eye. Leona is survived by her brother-in-law Frances Isler and his wife Shera of Tucumcari,her brother-in-law Kris Kristensen of Minden, Nebraska, several nieces and nephews, and close friends too numerous to mention. She is preceded in death by her husband, Roy Dean Isler, her son Reid Allen Isler and her four sisters Ruth, Opal, Ester and Elizabeth. Please share your thoughts and memories in the online register book at andersonbethany.com. Cremation was under the direction of Anderson-Bethany Funeral Home and Crematory. Leona will join her husband Roy at the First United Methodist Church Columbarium.

Leona Isler

August 9, 1922 - August 24, 2010