Eleanor Lucille Leifeste
Eleanor Lucille Leifeste
November 11, 1925 — October 21, 2017
Eleanor Lucille Leifeste, 91, of Kingsland, passed away Saturday, Oct. 21, 2017, at the Windchime Assisted Living facility after battling a series of debilitating strokes. Her hospice and assisted living caregivers volunteered that she was the sweetest and toughest woman they had ever known.
She was born Nov. 11, 1925, to Tom and Lucille O'Donnell in Fairland, Texas, where she also attended school. She attended Mary Hardin Baylor Women's College in Belton, Texas, after high school.
She met her husband, A.C. Leifeste, of Castell, Texas, in 1942 and they were married on Nov. 20 of that same year, prior to his shipping out overseas for duty with the Army in World War II. She and A.C. would have been married 75 years this Nov. 20.
When A.C. returned from service, she and he set up house in Burnet, Texas, where the O'Donnell family had also set up residence. The Leifeste family soon began to grow with the birth of a son and daughter. After the births, the family moved to Llano, Texas, for a brief period before she convinced her husband that the children would get a better education if they moved to San Angelo, Texas. A.C. agreed and they subsequently settled there to raise their children. A.C. got a job with the San Angelo Standard-Times in the display advertising department and she developed a considerable reputation over the next 20 or so years as a seamstress and clothing designer. She also was very skilled at knitting and needlepoint. She made numerous wedding dresses, and clothes for many of the prominent families in the area and was even the lead designer one year for the Miss Wool of Texas pageant.
She and A.C. lived in San Angelo until their children graduated from college and then moved back to the Burnet area, where A.C. commuted to work at the Austin American-Statesman until his retirement. After A.C.'s retirement, she and he commuted back and forth between Burnet and San Angelo for many years to help take care of their daughter, who had developed multiple sclerosis.
After their daughter's passing, they sold their house in Burnet and she and A.C. moved to Robert Lee, Texas, to be close to friends. She and A.C. made friends easily wherever they settled and were active in the Baptist churches in the communities where they resided.
She is survived by her loving husband, A.C. Leifeste; her son, Tim Leifeste and his wife, Pam; Tim’s children, Joshua, Justin and Benjamin; her deceased daughter's son, Jason Coward, and his father Jimmy Coward; her brother, Guthrie O'Donnell and his wife, Jane; and numerous nieces, nephews and five great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her father, Tom O'Donnell; her mother, Lucille O'Donnell; her sister, Doris Ann Fariss; her bothers, Tom Jr., Pat, Richard, and Michael; and her daughter, Carla Ann Coward.
Memorials may be made to the Highland Lakes Baptist Church, 716 RR 2900, Kingsland, Texas, or a charity of your choosing. Family and friends may sign Putnam Funeral Home's online register book at PutnamCares.com.
Arrangements made by Putnam Funeral Home and Crematory, 145 Texas Avenue, Kingsland, Texas.
