Leota Hall

Leota Ellen Hall was born February 1, 1916 to Elizabeth Ila Seamans and Harry M. Drorbaugh at their farm home near Cromwell, Iowa. The family moved to a farm one mile west of Kent, Iowa in March of 1917. Her father farmed 200 acres for Warren and Walter Riggs (twins). They were bankers in Kent. He sometimes hired a man to help him with cultivation and corn picking. In 1930 they moved to a farm her parents purchased three miles east of Lenox, Iowa. She finished two years of high school in Kent with her last two years of high school in Lenox. She graduated at sixteen years of age. After two years of helping at home, picking corn by hand, baking bread and doing housework for a cousin for $2.00 per week, Leota obtained her normal training teacher’s certificate. It was not issued until one reached the age of eighteen. In 1934 Leota applied for a teaching position in twenty-nine different school districts with no luck. The thirtieth application was a “standard” school and she could have the position if she had a summer of summer school. She enrolled for the summer session of Iowa State Teacher’s College out of Cedar Falls which was held in Corning that summer. She was two weeks late enrolling so she had to do some “catching up”. Her first teaching position was at Frog Pond; two miles south and six miles west of Lenox. The second week she contracted scarlet fever and missed two weeks of school. There were about sixteen pupils in kindergarten through the eighth grade. Leota taught there for two years, and then moved to a school two miles north of Lenox for one year. After that she taught seventh and eighth graders in Kent for four years until her marriage on June 1, 1941 to Allen David Hall at her parent’s farm home. They lived with Rolland and Emma Hall, Allen’s parents, on a farm south of Corning until March 1, 1942. Then they moved to a farm owned by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company ten miles south of Lenox. At this home is where Gary Allen Hall was born on July 25, 1942. Allen cared for cattle and hogs and helped with cattle and hay on all the other farms in the area. They lived on the headquarters farm. After two years they moved to another Metropolitan farm eight miles south of Lenox. They were given a share of the calves that were on the farm and in 1945 were sent to the International Stock Show in Chicago with some other Metropolitan calves and won the grand championship. Anita was born November 4, 1945 while the family lived on the Buchanan Farm. On March 1, 1946 the family moved 125 miles north and west to Manilla, Iowa. Allen died in May of 1980 and on July 1, 1984 Leota bought the Tenhulzen house in Hillcrest Addition in Denison, Iowa, and moved into it on October 17, 1984. She was a 60 year member of the Friendly Farmers Club of Manilla, First United Methodist Church in Denison and the United Methodist Women, P.E.O., Red Hat Society, Crawford County Farm Bureau, Questers, Sweet Adelines, and, in earlier years, was a 4-H Leader. In her leisure time she enjoyed writing poetry being a published author, gardening, bird watching and pursuing her many talents in arts and crafts. Leota died Saturday morning, July 23, 2011, at Eventide Lutheran Home in Denison having been blessed with 95 years, 5 months and 22 days. Including her parents, Harry and Elizabeth Drorbaugh and her husband, Allen, Leota was also preceded in death by three siblings, twins, Bob Drorbaugh and Betty Wilson and Thirza Hucke. Those remaining to cherish her memory include one son, Gary Hall of Manilla, Iowa, one daughter, Anita and husband, Yuri Schilin of Saint Augustine, Florida, 10 grandchildren, 21 great grandchildren, other relatives and friends. Funeral services were held at 10:00 a.m., Tuesday July 26, 2011, at First United Methodist Church, Denison, Iowa, with the Rev. Alberta Ervin officiating. Music for the service included recorded selections of “Wind Beneath My Wings” and “The Rose”. Vocal solo selections included “I Believe” and “One Day at a Time” with Pat Roush serving as vocalist and Nancy Miles, accompanist. Honorary pallbearers were Mick Wilson, Larry Struck, Derek Hall, Luke Hall, Aiden Hall, Josh Getting, Zach Getting, Jack Vanderweide, Gary Manda, Fredrick Manda, Lucas Manda, Mitchell Breitmann and Yuri Schilin. Those serving as pallbearers were David Getting, Doug Vanderweide, Alan Hall, Will Manda, Steve Hall and Troy Breitmann. Interment was at the Nishnabotna Cemetery, Manilla, Iowa. Following the interment the family invited everyone to return to the church and join them for fellowship and a luncheon prepared and served by the United Methodist Women. The Pfannebecker Funeral Home, www.pfannebecker.com , Denison, Iowa, was in charge of arrangements.