Leo James McChesney
Leo James McChesney, 87,
passed away peacefully on Wednesday (Feb. 4, 2009) at Schowalter Villa in
Hesston. He was born April 14, 1921, in Huron, S.D., to Frank and Mary
McChesney. He married Darlene Ovre on Sept. 15, 1946, in Canton, S.D. She
survives. He was raised by his stepfather, Ed Haffner, and mother, Mary, during
the Depression. He quit school after seventh grade, and with a job, helped with
food for his brothers and sisters. Oh, he did love his family!
Leo enjoyed camping, hunting
and fishing. He was a man who could fix or do anything.
Leo and Darlene started life
together in Beloit, Iowa. There they built a house made from wood of two old
chicken houses. He had been a real cowboy on the ranges of Wyoming and a
farmer, and he retired from Hesston Corp.
Other survivors include
daughter, Donna Haas and husband, Dan; son, Neil and wife, Kathryn; four
grandchildren, Daniel and Erik Feay, and Shane and Andrea McChesney; one
great-granddaughter, Kiara Waters; brothers, Marvin, Don and Guy Haffner; and
sisters, Eva and Rose.
He was preceded in death by
his father, Frank McChesney; mother, Mary Haffner; stepfather, Ed Haffner;
brothers, Bobby and Ed Haffner and Albert Feldhege; and sisters, Maxine Bly and
Luella Schlangen.
His body will be transported
by Petersen Funeral Home in Newton to The University of Kansas Medical Center
for medical use and cremated in the future.
Services will be at 10:30
a.m. Feb. 14 at Meridian Baptist Church in Newton.
Donations may go to the
Hesston Resource Center.
