Ron Leber's Obituary

RONALD'S OBITUARY
Ronald J. Leber, 86 of Parker died on Sunday, March 29, 2020, at the Tieszen Memorial Home in Marion.  Private family services will be held with burial at St. Christina’s Catholic Cemetery, Parker.  A Memorial Mass will be held at a later date.  Arrangements by Hofmeister Jones Funeral Home.   Memorials may be directed to St. Christina’s Cemetery Fund.



Ronald Jerome Leber was born on  February 20, 1934, at Parker, SD to Vincent and Cecil (Verley) Leber.  He grew up near Parker and graduated from Parker High School in 1952.  On September 1, 1962, he was united in marriage to Patricia Wingert at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Humboldt.  They farmed and had a family dairy operation on the Leber Century Farm.  He and Pat continued to live in the house where he was born. After the sons were involved in the farming operation they enjoyed 22 years of being winter Texans at Magnolia Park of Donna, Texas.



Ron was active in his community, a lifelong member of St. Christina Catholic Church, longtime president and sexton of  St. Christina Cemetery,  and board member of Parker School Board, Farmers Union Cooperative Association, and Parker Township.



Ron’s faith was a very important part of his life.  He was a devote Catholic, attended both Sunday and daily masses, prayed daily, and participated in any activity with St. Christina’s Church.  He is responsible for obtaining the Pope Francis life-size cardboard cutout that stands prominently in the entryway of the church.



Grateful for having shared his life are his wife Patricia; 4 sons, Kevin, Parker, Lyle (Marya), Tea, Brian (Melissa), Parker, and Richard (Dawn), Parker; 5 daughters, Regina (Todd) McKenney, Parker, Karmen (Dan) Schneider, Java, Karla (Jason) Thorson, Hardwick, MN, Jolene (Bob) Lingen, Parker, and Maria (Thomas) LaPorta, Shawnee, KS; a sister Deanna Whitefeather Clark, Sturgis; 23 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.  He was preceded in death by his parents, an infant son Russell, a brother Jerome and a sister Venice.

Condolences can be sent to
Pat Leber
27690 452nd Ave
Parker SD 57053

Magnolia Park Happier Days

I was feeling somewhat nostalgic tonight and looked back through some of my many Magnolia photos. Most of them are from back in the day when we were Magnolia Park, not Magnolia Village. As with all things, change is inevitable. With the news being what it is today and I suspect for many days to come I thought I would post some photos from the past. They bring back many good memories of by-gone days and I thought I'd share some of them with you.

Whoops!

Every now and then I screw up on which blog I post something and I did it again. I will leave it on but rest assured I had no plan to knock Magnolia Park it was a great place for all 18 years we were there.

Life changing moment

Saturday night about eight we decided to get our showers out of the way because of a couple of upcoming shows we wanted to watch. I went first without incident and then Butch. He dropped the soap and when he dropped the soap, bending over to pick it up, bumping his head on the built-in shelf, flinched, feet slipped and he fell out of the shower with a hard hit on the metal piece on the bottom ledge breaking his right femur just below his hip. It made a very loud sound. So loud the neighbors heard it and thought it was "The Knocker". Another story, for another time. I did get rattled but finally calmed myself enough to get the first responders called.
The first responders in our park are a group of qualified medical people who come to the aid of anyone who needs it. The number to reach the first responders is on the back of our badges and they are incredibly useful. When we check-in, we are asked to fill out a sheet of medical questions on a form, place it in a red envelope and leave it in an easy to spot location. Our's were on the visors in the front of the motorhome.  The first responders have had over 30 calls in the park this season so far. They determine if an ambulance is needed and in Butch's case there was no doubt so Marcia had me call 911 before she got here. 911 keeps you on the line but Marcia took over when she got here. Her husband meets the ambulance at the gate and leads them to the place. It was quite the event getting Butch strapped to a board and moved out of the motorhome and into the ambulance but everyone involved did an excellent job. I rode in front with the driver. He was very careful trying to make the trip as smooth as possible. We went to McAllen Medical Center ER and they were very busy! Saturday night in the city! They x-rayed him using a portable machine. In fairly short order they had him moved to the 4th floor in room 429. I stayed the night trying to sleep in a very uncomfortable recliner. Neither of us got any sleep. Keny and Mikie Patrick, our next-door neighbors to the north, told me to call them when I needed to come home as I got into the ambulance and so I did. The people in this park are super. I have not found a bad apple in the bunch.
 I planned to spread the help around so I didn't put too much pressure on one friendship. Dave and Liz took me back to the hospital after I got some sleep.  I missed talking to Butch before he went into surgery and I hated that but such as it was, it ended up making the wait time more productive. Butch went to the surgical area at 12:45 pm, into surgery at 2:00 or so, into recovery at 4:30 and into his room about 5:45. Surgery went well. Dr. Lago told Butch he had to fight for a surgery time slot because the hospital doesn't place a broken leg as an emergency.
Butch just called me (9:45 am, Monday) and they have him up in a chair!! He said it went fairly well and yes, it hurt but it was bearable. He was sitting in the chair all the time we talked and it helped both of us feel very hopeful!! They told him to go ahead and use the leg as normal, walk, put pressure on it etc. AMAZING. When it comes down to it Butch has always been a trooper! And healthy as a horse! More later...

Butch had an accident

Even though Brookers along with us and many others are no longer Magnolia Park residents a lot of us still think of Magnolia as a place where we have a lot of very good memories so we try to keep you updated when something noteworthy happens to any one of us.

Unfortunately Butch had an accident in the shower last night (starting with a dropped bar of soap), fell and broke his femur. I talked with Barb this afternoon for a short time and he was in surgery at that time. She spent the night with him over at the hospital and got no sleep so I didn't keep her for very long. Someone from here at Trophy Gardens was going to take her back over to the hospital late this afternoon as Butch should have been out of surgery by then and I haven't talked to her since then. I think it perhaps was a pretty nasty break so I imagine it took some time to patch him back up. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers and I know we all wish for Butch a speedy recovery along with maybe a big dose of patience for the time it will take to heal. (He is in a hospital over in McAllen but I'm not 100% sure which one.)

Garage Sale and Entertainment

This Saturday is the monthly garage sale with lunch available up in Allen Hall. Friday morning is set-up .

Saturday afternoon will be entertainment with Kai Kamaka who will present a wide variety of music from Hawaii to the mainland from 2 - 4 PM, cost $7 per person. I've read some good reviews of this entertainer and I'm sure it will be worth going to and a pleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

As an additional note for those of you who remember Erv and Holly Hagen who parked next to us in Magnolia Park for several years, Erv will be here in Trophy Gardens Sunday evening at 7:00 with the Magic Valley Men of A-Chord. They performed in Magnolia Park several years ago and they are VERY good. We are looking forward to hearing them and seeing the Hagens again as I'm hoping Holly will be here too. I know Trivia is also Sunday evening and a lot of you go to that but if you don't, come listen to more good music.

New Officers and Board Members

New officers and board members elected today for the 2020-2021 season were Joe Bleess, Ron Daigle, Janna Sadlovsky, Margaret Schmaltz, Pat Kent, Terry Froseth and Connie Dziuk