To request a copy of this photo for your own personal use, please contact our state coordinator. If you are not a family member or the original photographer — please refrain from copying or distributing this photo to other websites.
Thank you for visiting the Arkansas Gravestone Photo Project. On this site you can upload gravestone photos, locate ancestors and perform genealogy research. If you have a relative buried in Arkansas, we encourage you to upload a digital image using our Submit a Photo page. Contributing to this genealogy archive helps family historians and genealogy researchers locate their relatives and complete their family tree.
Submitted: 12/31/22 • Approved: 1/1/23 • Last Updated: 2/8/23 • R1463395-G1463395-S3
Oct 30, 1924 - Oct 8, 2017
Leona S. Lawyer died peacefully at the age of ninety-two in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 8, 2017.
She was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 30,1924, to Dmitri and Alexandra Ermolich.
She was first generation American from Russian and Polish immigrant parents that came to the United States via Ellis Island, New York in the early 1920's.
She grew up and was educated in Brooklyn, New York. She went to work at Pratt and Whitney Defense in Hartford, Connecticut, during WWII where she won the title of Miss Victory. It was during this time that she met and married Foster Cleland Lawyer. After their marriage they moved to Fort Montgomery, New York, where they raised their family.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, Stephen Klepacki, her sister, Sophie Walsh, and her beloved husband, Foster.
Leona is survived by her four children: Priscilla Catherine Howard (Tommy) of Little Rock, Arkansas, Foster Stephen Lawyer (Colleen) of Rancho Palos Verdes, California, Suzanne Marie Holland Schmidt (Mark) of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, and Michele Stephanie Barberini (Tom) of Las Vegas, Nevada; four grandchildren: Stephani Catherine Brown, Stephen Neal Holland, Nicholas Michael Barberini, and Harris Edison Lawyer; four great grandchildren: Alexander Vining Brown, Wesley Hendrix Brown, Harper Elizabeth Holland, and Logan Stephen Holland.
She will be interred at St. Mark's Episcopal Church Columbarium in Little Rock, Arkansas, at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations in her name can be made to St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 1000 North Mississippi St, Little Rock, Arkansas, 72207.
Special thanks from the family go out to the caring and loving staff of Gentle Breeze Care Home in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Leona was a beautiful, strong woman with a big heart. From all of her children: " We Love You More".
Contributed on 12/31/22 by eagle12953
Email This Contributor
Suggest a Correction
Record #: 1463395