Obituary

Eleanor passed away peacefully in Charlotte, North Carolina, on January 27, 2020 having lived life fully for 96 years.

The family is grateful for the extraordinary care provided by the staff at Carmel Hills Retirement Community, Charlotte, NC.

Eleanor was born in Geary, OK, one of three daughters in that farming community. She lost her father, a WWI veteran who fell ill in the line of duty, before passing away at age 26. Eleanor was only three years old. Her mother remarried. Her newly blended family included a stepfather and his son and daughter.

As an industrious teenager she loved to read and worked for a family in town caring for their children during High School. Then came the opportunity to enroll and attend Bethel College, Newton, KS, to study nursing. There she met Joe J. Lehman, her future husband. On his graduation day in 1943, May 20, Eleanor and Joe were married. Their marriage thrived until Joe passed away, age 92, in 2013.

Joe entered the U.S. Navy later in 1943 to serve in the Pacific Theater. Meanwhile, Eleanor lived with an aunt in Oakland, CA, working at the Kaiser Shipyards until Joe’s active duty discharge in 1945. He then completed his doctorate in 1949 at Washington State University, subsequently accepting a Professorship in Organic Chemistry at Colorado A&M University. Joe and Eleanor moved to Fort Collins, CO, built a house and established their home in 1950, only a mile from campus, for the next 65 years. He retired in 1991.

Meanwhile, Eleanor continued in their loving relationship as a devoted wife and mother. With four children to nurture, Eleanor stalwartly guided them each into life’s discoveries: chores, reading, music, travel and higher education and part-time jobs. Encouragement and patience poured into her children, a teacher and guardian all the while.

Eleanor’s support, equally, in Joe’s career allowed her to expand her love of history, art and literature as his U.S. Naval Reserve (rank of Captain) appointments created opportunity for travel. Sabbaticals were awarded to him to teach, on leave from, now, Colorado State University. The family then experienced residencies in Oak Ridge, TN, Chapel Hill, NC, The Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, and Kansas City, KS. In early retirement she and Joe traveled abroad: Europe, and Hawaii, visiting museums, then often found themselves driving the continental U.S. visiting their children and families.

After Joe’s passing Eleanor then relocated, in August 2015, to Charlotte, NC, to live with daughter Barbara Brady and husband, Terry.

Reflecting on Eleanor’s love of family and learning and, being of a gentle and humble disposition, she enjoyed her hobbies: reading history and keeping journals, clipping commentaries on published books, art and editorials, and tending to her rose garden. She deliberately, for years, walked the mile out and back to College Avenue from her home near the hospital. Her grandchildren, overjoyed to be with her at home, were privileged to receive frequent correspondence from her. She passed along this worthwhile habit, along with other individual skills. Eleanor remained intensely interested in their lives and progress throughout her life.

Eleanor’s faith in Christ sustained her providing her great strength and comfort.

Her tender heart and indomitable spirit lives on in memory for her children, Stanwood Lehman (Pat), Nashville, TN, Barbara Brady (Terry), Charlotte, NC, Lizabeth Cannon (Fred), State College, PA, and Scott Lehman (Janet), Arvada, CO. She is survived by 9 grandchildren (in addition, God rest grandson Andy’s soul in 2005) and 14 great-grandchildren. Eleanor was affectionally known as “Nonty” or “Nanty”.

Private family arrangements will be handled by Palmetto Funeral Home and Cremation Service, Fort Mill, SC 29708. It is Eleanor’s wishes for her ashes to be spread in the Colorado mountains where her dear husband Joe’s everlasting spirit was cast.