Daria Doering

We are here to pay our respects to Leotta Anastasia Konechne (Doering).  For some of you, she was a grandma, an outspoken friend, a sometimes difficult patient, a devout fellow parishioner, an outspoken character.  She was off the wall, blunt, someone spunky against all odds. For some of us here today, she was our mother.  At times in her life she was bitter or behaved cruelly. But we always knew who our mother was.

She had her problems in life. She rose above many of them, but some remained til the end. She was from a farm community and a family of Bohemian Catholic immigrants. They supported their church. They actually built their church, bringing the altar with them on the boat to America when they came. One of them has now restored that church and made it into a museum, which it is today, on Interstate 90 in Kimball, South Dakota.  Kimball, where she grew up, was a small town. Everyone knew what your problems were.

She was the 12^th of 13 children on the farm (one died in infancy). The 4 kids above her in age were brothers. I asked one of the brothers one time what they did for fun on the farm, when not working. “We boxed” he said.  One of them actually boxed in college, at Marquette.  Surrounded by boys, Leotta had to get a little tough.

She spoke highly of her mother, as if she were a saint.  She spoke of her father in noble terms as well.  A successful farmer who gave each of 6 sons their own farm. Her mother died, when she was 9. She was raised by an older sister, and a step mother.

She did bold things. One day, fed up with the small world of Kimball and the older sister, she got into a car with some girls who were going to California, and started a new life. She started as a governess for a wealthy businessman, modeled furs at the Emporium in Berkeley, packed doughnuts in a factory, then became a relief manager for 138 Safeway stores in the San Francisco/Oakland area. She was on top of the world.

She married our father, a childhood friend. His mother had also died when he was 9.  While he was on leave they got reacquainted in San Francisco. At that time he had already completed 6 war patrols on a famous submarine, the Salmon. He was commended for courage, devotion to duty, and meritorious conduct.  His skipper was awarded the Navy Cross and Gold Star. He had just been promoted to Chief Petty Officer and was on leave for two full months. They were happy together. They got married in Brooklyn on March 17, 1944.

She had her troubles. Her husband left for sea shortly after they got married. He did two more war patrols, a couple of months each time. She discovered that her husband had been married before. The marriage was annulled, but her father did not approve.

Because of the war, there were times when she was pregnant, alone and did not know if her husband was alive.  Letters could not be mailed until they got back to port, in Hawaii, with a damaged ship.  His ship had sunk an aircraft carrier and been damaged by depth charges.  But all survived. Twenty four letters came, the war ended. Her husband and childhood friend returned.

They were transferred to San Diego. Then Sioux Falls, South Dakota, then San Diego, then Sioux Falls South Dakota.  Her third (of 6 children) died at birth. She was treated for depression while her two kids boarded with relatives. She had two more children, then in Sioux City, in 1955, her husband retired from the Navy, after 20 years.

They moved to California.  But on the way there, one of her children was struck by a car. This was a long ordeal for the family. But the child survived. They moved to San Diego again and remained there. She had one more child.  Her marriage had major difficulties. They eventually divorced and she lost custody of a child. This was a major blow for her. She lost her child, was in her 50’s and starting her working life over again.

She got into sales. She sold Avon, World Book encyclopedias, Childcraft, Cycloteacher, the Slim Gym, real estate, burial plots at Glenn Abbey, and even once tried to sell a monorail system to General Franco, leader of Spain. She got as high as a member of his cabinet in that deal.  She was a very determined woman.  She took care of elderly people in their homes and in her own home.   She inherited money from two of these people. She bought property, stocks and bonds. For a little while, she had some money.  She taught people to read, in a literacy program.

She was committed to her church, to St. Pius and later, St. Rose of Lima, which was closer for her after awhile.   She insisted on living on her own. She had a boyfriend in her 80’s and came close to marrying him.  He was a deacon in this church. But it never quite worked out. They had a 40 year friendship and prayed together a lot.

Eventually, she could not live on her own. She fell and broke her hip.  She ended up at a very nice place, Windsor Gardens in National City, which she did not appreciate at first, but, due to the wonderful people working there, came to accept, after awhile. Near the end, that is how I would describe her: accepting. She was tough, fought against the odds all her life, but in the end, accepted her situation and was ready to move on.

There are things we can and did learn from her. She had many problems in life. Many difficulties, many disadvantages.  But disadvantages are always temporary if you keep trying. But she always found a way to cope. She rose above her circumstances more than once.  She is the most strong willed and most determined person I ever met.  She had a strong spirit, was not easily deterred and never forgot the path she was on.  She never gave in and never gave up.