Dorothy Lekwa

Dorothy H. Lekwa, age 89, of Moran, Kansas, passed away on Saturday, October 6, 2012, at Moran Manor, Moran, Kansas. She was born August 1, 1923 south of Chapin, Iowa, the daughter of C.K. & Lela (Deam) Crawford. Dorothy attended a country school North of Sheffield, Iowa, in 1930's where on one day a car came roaring past. Finding out, soon after, when parents started showing up early to pick up their children, that it was most likely a fellow named John Dillinger running from the law after making a questionable withdrawal from the First National Bank in Mason City, Iowa. She graduated from Hansell High School 1940, Hansell, Iowa. Dorothy was a starter member of the Iowa State Championship Girls basketball team with Hansell High School in 1940. She may have been the last surviving starter of that team. Dorothy worked for FBI in Washington D.C. 1942-1944 in finger print classification and met J. Edgar Hoover, the Director, at that time. She married Wilfrid L. LaPorte in Rockville, Maryland on February 12, 1944. This union was blessed with two children, her daughter, Donna and son, William. They lived in Massachusetts and around central and southeast Iowa until settling back in Hampton in 1955 where her husband Wilfrid worked for the Rock Island Railroad. Dorothy worked for the First National Bank in the bookkeeping department in the 1950s and 1960s. She was also a janitor at the Hampton Church of Christ with her husband Wilfrid in the early 1960s, and worked in summer baseball with Wilfrid at Progress Park by the swimming pool. She was a member of the Hampton Church of Christ. Dorothy was a Sunday school teacher for over 20 years as well as teaching the ladies Sr. Citizens class; she worked in V.B.S. in the summers and loved to provide hospitality to visiting missionaries and friends of her children when they would bring some home from college. She was a member of Ladies Aid at her home congregation. Dorothy married Robert M. Lekwa in November of 1966, working Star Mail Route with Robert until his passing in 1979. She continued working the mail route into the 1980s. She enjoyed her work with Franklin County Hospice in Hampton. While living in Hampton, she also enjoyed going to coffee each morning and visiting with family and friends. Dorothy loved the Lord, her family, friends and neighbors, loved to fish. She enjoyed taking trips with her daughter whether they were long ones or just short weekend or shopping trips with her sister Eunice and other friends. She enjoyed spending time family on summer trips and camping at Beeds Lake. Memorial services will be held at 11:00 a.m., on Friday, October 12, 2012 at the Church of Christ in Hampton, Iowa. The family will be present to greet friends on Wednesday, October 10, 2012 at the Feuerborn Family Funeral Service Chapel in Moran, Kansas, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made to Cookson Hills Christian Ministry.