Leona Coleman was born December 16, 1919, in Neola, Iowa and died February 24, 2020 at the Oakland Manor at the age of 100 years, 2 months and 8 days.

Leona Edith Bentley Coleman was born December 16, 1919 to John Buzz and Edith Pierce Bentley.  She grew up on a farm west of Oakland and went to Washington Township #2 Country School to 8 ^th grade.  She graduated from Oakland High School in 1938.  She graduated Simpson College in Indianola with an Elementary Teaching Certificate and attended Chatauqua, New York Summer School in 1941. She then taught school at Lehigh, Macedonia and Oakland.

In 1944, she married Ardath Naasson Coleman to which were born five children. They celebrated their 60 ^th wedding anniversary in 2004. Leona enjoyed reading, family visits, gardening, flowers, traveling, and baking wonderful bread that she sometimes sold at Saturday market.

Leona is preceded in death by her daughter, Diane, her son, Kent, her husband and her seven brothers: Orris (Ruth), Walter (Lucille), Edwin (Neva), Johnie (Mary Ellen), Kenneth (Lorene), Sherwood (Marge), Donald Bentley; Laverne (Lucille) Coleman, Phylis (Cloyd) Clark, Ralph Toombs, Lyle (Muriel) Coleman and one granddaughter, Michelle.

Leona is survived by her sons, James (Pam), Richard (Ila), and daughter Sherry (Dan); 17 grandchildren, 45 great-grandchildren, a host of nieces and nephews and her sister-in-law, Mary Toombs.

Leona was a member of Sharon Presbyterian and Oakland Congregational Churches.  She was in Twentieth Century Mother's Club, Bible Study and 4-H when she was younger. She enjoyed horses in her younger days, especially Tony and Diamond, 5 gaited horses. She traveled to Argentina where Richard was a missionary for 30 years and travel to Iowa, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Washington to cheer for Kent at NIAA National College Wrestling Championships for Peru, Nebraska.

Mom had a funny way of always meeting someone who knew someone that she knew. She is deeply loved and will be missed until we meet again.