Leora K. West

Leora K. West passed away peacefully August 29, 2025 in Salem Oregon. She is preceded in death by her husband of 64 years Frank. E. West, as well as her parents Samuel Wagner & Florence Julia (Jones) Wagner, and her 4 older brothers: Russell, Marlin, Ronald, and Willard. She is survived by her 4 adult children: Julene West, Duane West (m. Cathe West), Karen (West) Foster (m. Eric Foster), and Darin West (m. Tammy West), 11 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. 

Born in Twin Falls Idaho on February 1, 1940, Leora lived in several locations throughout Idaho and Montana before heading off to what is now known as Northwest University in Washington State, where she met and married Frank, eventually settling in Oregon to raise their family. 

Those who knew her best would tell you she loved music and the Lord. She was proficient at reading sheet music, but she really dazzled fellow musicians when she played by ear. All it took was hearing a song one time and she could reproduce it on the piano, or any one of the 13 instruments she played. She put her heart into her music so much so that when she played you could FEEL the music. Her God-given talent for music and dance was noted by teachers when she was a young child. Unfortunately, she never got the chance to pursue those talents in the way she desired. 

Her relationship with the Lord was deeply personal and was what steadied her through the challenges of life. She always had a hymn at the ready that spoke to whatever she was facing. It was very important to her that her children knew the heart of God and had their own real relationship with him. Publicly, she served in Women’s Ministry with AGLOW for many years and was honored with their top national award. 

She had a tender heart for animals and enjoyed the various cats, dogs, birds, fish, hamsters, guinea pigs, chickens, ducks, and rabbits the family had over the years. In her later years she loved to watch the birds snacking at her bird feeders and crafted humorous storylines for many of them.

 When her children were small, the family piled into a borrowed motorhome and held Kids Crusades in churches all across America. Frank made the wooden castle-shaped puppet stage and other props, Leora made all the flannel-graph stories and songs. She was a master at writing scripts for dozens of puppet characters and somehow managed to keep all the voices straight! They made priceless memories during that season that she cherished her entire lifetime. 

Leora took pride in a clean, orderly home. Daily meals served as an anchor point as the family gathered around the table to enjoy her cooking and connect with each other. She was very active in her children’s lives serving as a den mother for both son’s Boy Scout troops and as a group leader for both daughter’s Camp Fire Girls groups. She helped out at the schools her children attended, led a neighborhood Bible based Good News Club out of her garage after school, taught Sunday School, and baked countless cookies for every activity her children were involved in. To help make ends meet she also delivered flowers for Jerry’s Flowers which she dearly loved. 

Leora had a mischievous side and was able to make anything into a game! The mischievous twinkle in her eyes was never so prevalent as it was at Christmastime. Each year she would have a lyrical rhyme that dangled cryptic clues about what she was up to, thereby increasing the mystery and anticipation of Christmas! She created a plethora of fun traditions that will live on as a part of her legacy. 

One of her unique talents was nurturing any plant back to robust health. She studied her plants and prayed for wisdom. Long before the internet was invented, she figured out what each plant needed to heal and thrive. She believed strongly in speaking life over her plants and singing hymns to them. (She also believed in putting jello in the watering can!) She had a green thumb that could revive and grow anything. One of her prized botanical rescues was a Christmas cactus. This HUGE cactus was over 100 years old at the time of her passing and still blooming spectacularly every year. 

Leora loved canning the voluminous vegetables from their garden and was always prepared to feed family and friends. She would beam with pride when her kitchen counter was full of fresh canned produce. While people appreciated her canning, what most folks loved best was her pies! Leora’s mother taught her how to make the best pie crust and she used that recipe many hundreds of times to make everyone their favorite pie for holidays and special celebrations. 

After the kids left home and Frank retired, they purchased a motorhome and thoroughly enjoyed many years of travel, spending time together, and making new friends wherever they went. One of their favorite ways to meet new people was to knock on their door and tell the potential new friends they had a problem and needed their help. When the new person would ask what the problem was they would chuckle and say “We have a whole pie fresh from the oven and we can’t eat it all ourselves. We need your help!” They found great joy in meeting people that way! 

In Leora’s lifetime the world changed immensely. She started life on a childhood farm where water had to be hand pumped from a well and everyone shared the single-hole outhouse. Near the end of her life she lived in a palatial home that had 2 wells, 4 bathrooms (all indoors of course!), and all the modern conveniences. She started in a world where most children didn’t finish the 8th grade, but ended watching her children graduate from college. She saw transportation change from horseback to airplanes, and saw communication change from handwritten letters to the ability to Face Time her grandchildren on a device that fit in the palm of her hand! She knew both plenty and want, good times and bad, joy and sorrow. 

She was blessed with good health her entire life, with the exception of a stroke in her 40’s. True to her nature, she doubled down and worked hard to regain the motor skills she had lost by building detailed dollhouses complete with individually wallpapered rooms, decorative architecture and furnishings that made you feel someone really lived there. That evolved into a business where she restored old dollhouses for people, built log cabins, and custom houses to the great delight of her customers. 

Leora worked with focussed ambition and endless creativity. Whatever she did, she did it well and always kept her commitments. She was a natural leader, but also enjoyed quiet one-on-one visits with people. 

Resting may have been the only thing she was not skilled at. In the end it was not a disease that ended her life. Her busy brain, that ran circles around everyone her whole life, simply wore out, as did her body. 

So now we come to the time where she can finally rest. 

May she rest peacefully, and be enraptured by the captivating harmonies of heaven and the love of her Savior Jesus Christ.