Leona loved her family and the church Leona Richards, daughter of John Lytle and Bertha Kendall Lytle, was born on March 20, 1920 in Oatsville, Ind., and passed to heaven on Sept. 20, 2008, at Heart of the Ozarks Healthcare, Ava, Mo., at the age of 88 years.
Leona was a housewife and homemaker. Leona and Carl Sidney Richards were united in marriage on Dec. 24, 1954 in Princeton, Ind. Leona was a devoted member of the Church of Jesus Christ Ava Restoration Branch. She loved doing work in the church and she also loved cooking and most of all spending time with all her family.
Leona was preceded by her parents, husband, Carl in 2001, six brothers, five sisters, two sons, John and Wendell, one daughter, Bonnie and one infant grandson.
Leona is survived by two daughters and their spouses, Nancy and Ike Rhoades, Ava, and Connie and Dale Peterson, Lawton, Iowa; one son, Carl S. Richards, Jr., DeWitt, Iowa; 12 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; one sister and brother-in-law, Edna and Bob Richards, Ava; nieces, nephews and a host of other relatives and friends.
Funeral services for Leona will be Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2 p.m. at Clinkingbeard Funeral Home, Ava, with Elder Ike Rhoades, Elder Dale Peterson and Elder Randy Spurlock officiating. Interment will follow in the Ava Cemetery. The family requests memorial donations to Church of Jesus Christ Ava Restoration Branch. On line condolences may be made to www.clinkingbeardfuneralhome. com.
