Laura Rose LeClear was the middle child of nine born to Nettie Lillian Miller and Floyd LeClear, the granddaughter of Charles Wilson LeClear of Ohio and Laura Susan DeForest, Arthur Jasper Miller and Olivia Celia Case all from Michigan. She was a descendant of Jean LeClerc from France.
The family was quite poor, living on the family farm in Assyria where stories were born about snow so deep you needed a rope to find the barn, and literally walking that mile to school in bare feet. Her mother died from rheumatic fever when Laura was 16, and Laura was left to raise her siblings under the guidance of a neglectful father who remarried almost immediately. A welfare worker who had been helping the family took Laura under her wing, arranging for Laura's education which led to her joining the Coast Guard. As much as it pains me to say, or type, Mum walked away from her family and never looked back due to her abusive father, and learned what manners were truly about. She kept in touch with both brothers until the days they passed away. Laura came to California after a short stint in the Coast Guard at the end of World War II, and there she attended Stanford University in 1946, met and married John Shurtleff Stevens in 1948, and set up housekeeping in their first home in Palo Alto where their first daughter, Susan Jean, was born in 1949. They moved to San Mateo where Sharry Anne was born, followed by Janet Lee.
John and Laura divorced about 1958, and Laura moved her family to Cupertino where she obtained her teacher's credentials, married Barney Fialk, and taught for many years at Regnart Elementary.
After all her children were grown, Laura finally retired, divorced, moved lock, stock and barrel to Willits, CA where she purchased the local, spooky Victorian house, refurbished it completely, and opened the Dollhouse Bed and Breakfast.
Laura would eventually close the B & B, living in her beloved home until she required assistance and moved to Ukiah where she was cared for by her eldest daughter in a retirement care home until the moment she left us.
Mom was a true hoarder, being raised during the depression, and she filled her three story house to the brim. She loved "Goodwilling", collected just about everything from recipes to dolls, she was passionate about her huge rose collection, could fix any little broken thing, and was well known for her weird gifts, wrapped with love, care and fantastically done paper, ribbons and trinkets. (My co-workers made me open my birthday presents at work where they would arrive so they could see the fun!) She delighted in discoveries and learning, famous for her plum jam, watermelon pickles and fairy dust. Mom's house, the holidays, her cooking, the family gatherings, the memories will remain rich in our hearts forever.
I have never met a more stubborn woman, or any woman that was as strong as my Mum. May you rest, Mumsey. I will love you forever.
Going through papers in 2017, I found my mother's handwritten family tree written in 1936 that contained delightful information about her parents all the way up to her great great grandfather, John Hoffenmiller. The funniest part is when she wrote a quick note about herself, "Nationality is YANKEE."
The family was quite poor, living on the family farm in Assyria where stories were born about snow so deep you needed a rope to find the barn, and literally walking that mile to school in bare feet. Her mother died from rheumatic fever when Laura was 16, and Laura was left to raise her siblings under the guidance of a neglectful father who remarried almost immediately. A welfare worker who had been helping the family took Laura under her wing, arranging for Laura's education which led to her joining the Coast Guard. As much as it pains me to say, or type, Mum walked away from her family and never looked back due to her abusive father, and learned what manners were truly about. She kept in touch with both brothers until the days they passed away. Laura came to California after a short stint in the Coast Guard at the end of World War II, and there she attended Stanford University in 1946, met and married John Shurtleff Stevens in 1948, and set up housekeeping in their first home in Palo Alto where their first daughter, Susan Jean, was born in 1949. They moved to San Mateo where Sharry Anne was born, followed by Janet Lee.
John and Laura divorced about 1958, and Laura moved her family to Cupertino where she obtained her teacher's credentials, married Barney Fialk, and taught for many years at Regnart Elementary.
After all her children were grown, Laura finally retired, divorced, moved lock, stock and barrel to Willits, CA where she purchased the local, spooky Victorian house, refurbished it completely, and opened the Dollhouse Bed and Breakfast.
Laura would eventually close the B & B, living in her beloved home until she required assistance and moved to Ukiah where she was cared for by her eldest daughter in a retirement care home until the moment she left us.
Mom was a true hoarder, being raised during the depression, and she filled her three story house to the brim. She loved "Goodwilling", collected just about everything from recipes to dolls, she was passionate about her huge rose collection, could fix any little broken thing, and was well known for her weird gifts, wrapped with love, care and fantastically done paper, ribbons and trinkets. (My co-workers made me open my birthday presents at work where they would arrive so they could see the fun!) She delighted in discoveries and learning, famous for her plum jam, watermelon pickles and fairy dust. Mom's house, the holidays, her cooking, the family gatherings, the memories will remain rich in our hearts forever.
I have never met a more stubborn woman, or any woman that was as strong as my Mum. May you rest, Mumsey. I will love you forever.
Going through papers in 2017, I found my mother's handwritten family tree written in 1936 that contained delightful information about her parents all the way up to her great great grandfather, John Hoffenmiller. The funniest part is when she wrote a quick note about herself, "Nationality is YANKEE."
Laura Rose LeClear was the middle child of nine born to Nettie Lillian Miller and Floyd LeClear, the granddaughter of Charles Wilson LeClear of Ohio and Laura Susan DeForest, Arthur Jasper Miller and Olivia Celia Case all from Michigan. She was a descendant of Jean LeClerc from France.
The family was quite poor, living on the family farm in Assyria where stories were born about snow so deep you needed a rope to find the barn, and literally walking that mile to school in bare feet. Her mother died from rheumatic fever when Laura was 16, and Laura was left to raise her siblings under the guidance of a neglectful father who remarried almost immediately. A welfare worker who had been helping the family took Laura under her wing, arranging for Laura's education which led to her joining the Coast Guard. As much as it pains me to say, or type, Mum walked away from her family and never looked back due to her abusive father, and learned what manners were truly about. She kept in touch with both brothers until the days they passed away. Laura came to California after a short stint in the Coast Guard at the end of World War II, and there she attended Stanford University in 1946, met and married John Shurtleff Stevens in 1948, and set up housekeeping in their first home in Palo Alto where their first daughter, Susan Jean, was born in 1949. They moved to San Mateo where Sharry Anne was born, followed by Janet Lee.
John and Laura divorced about 1958, and Laura moved her family to Cupertino where she obtained her teacher's credentials, married Barney Fialk, and taught for many years at Regnart Elementary.
After all her children were grown, Laura finally retired, divorced, moved lock, stock and barrel to Willits, CA where she purchased the local, spooky Victorian house, refurbished it completely, and opened the Dollhouse Bed and Breakfast.
Laura would eventually close the B & B, living in her beloved home until she required assistance and moved to Ukiah where she was cared for by her eldest daughter in a retirement care home until the moment she left us.
Mom was a true hoarder, being raised during the depression, and she filled her three story house to the brim. She loved "Goodwilling", collected just about everything from recipes to dolls, she was passionate about her huge rose collection, could fix any little broken thing, and was well known for her weird gifts, wrapped with love, care and fantastically done paper, ribbons and trinkets. (My co-workers made me open my birthday presents at work where they would arrive so they could see the fun!) She delighted in discoveries and learning, famous for her plum jam, watermelon pickles and fairy dust. Mom's house, the holidays, her cooking, the family gatherings, the memories will remain rich in our hearts forever.
I have never met a more stubborn woman, or any woman that was as strong as my Mum. May you rest, Mumsey. I will love you forever.
Going through papers in 2017, I found my mother's handwritten family tree written in 1936 that contained delightful information about her parents all the way up to her great great grandfather, John Hoffenmiller. The funniest part is when she wrote a quick note about herself, "Nationality is YANKEE."
The family was quite poor, living on the family farm in Assyria where stories were born about snow so deep you needed a rope to find the barn, and literally walking that mile to school in bare feet. Her mother died from rheumatic fever when Laura was 16, and Laura was left to raise her siblings under the guidance of a neglectful father who remarried almost immediately. A welfare worker who had been helping the family took Laura under her wing, arranging for Laura's education which led to her joining the Coast Guard. As much as it pains me to say, or type, Mum walked away from her family and never looked back due to her abusive father, and learned what manners were truly about. She kept in touch with both brothers until the days they passed away. Laura came to California after a short stint in the Coast Guard at the end of World War II, and there she attended Stanford University in 1946, met and married John Shurtleff Stevens in 1948, and set up housekeeping in their first home in Palo Alto where their first daughter, Susan Jean, was born in 1949. They moved to San Mateo where Sharry Anne was born, followed by Janet Lee.
John and Laura divorced about 1958, and Laura moved her family to Cupertino where she obtained her teacher's credentials, married Barney Fialk, and taught for many years at Regnart Elementary.
After all her children were grown, Laura finally retired, divorced, moved lock, stock and barrel to Willits, CA where she purchased the local, spooky Victorian house, refurbished it completely, and opened the Dollhouse Bed and Breakfast.
Laura would eventually close the B & B, living in her beloved home until she required assistance and moved to Ukiah where she was cared for by her eldest daughter in a retirement care home until the moment she left us.
Mom was a true hoarder, being raised during the depression, and she filled her three story house to the brim. She loved "Goodwilling", collected just about everything from recipes to dolls, she was passionate about her huge rose collection, could fix any little broken thing, and was well known for her weird gifts, wrapped with love, care and fantastically done paper, ribbons and trinkets. (My co-workers made me open my birthday presents at work where they would arrive so they could see the fun!) She delighted in discoveries and learning, famous for her plum jam, watermelon pickles and fairy dust. Mom's house, the holidays, her cooking, the family gatherings, the memories will remain rich in our hearts forever.
I have never met a more stubborn woman, or any woman that was as strong as my Mum. May you rest, Mumsey. I will love you forever.
Going through papers in 2017, I found my mother's handwritten family tree written in 1936 that contained delightful information about her parents all the way up to her great great grandfather, John Hoffenmiller. The funniest part is when she wrote a quick note about herself, "Nationality is YANKEE."
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
