LeAna Sacrison, 88

LeAna Sacrison, 88, passed away in her home, exactly where she wanted to be, surrounded by loving and caring family and friends in Kalispell, on June 25. While we mourn her absence, she is joyfully reunited with her parents, Leo and LeOna, her husband, Hans and their precious daughter, Nancy Lou Curtis.

LeAna often said of her life, “I got more than my share.” Her journey began in her beloved hometown of Buffalo, South Dakota, where she graduated high school as both salutatorian and homecoming queen. It was also there that she met and married her dear Hans (who, according to LeAna, had nice legs), with whom she shared 65 years of devotion, friendship, and multiple lifetimes’ worth of adventures. 

Just days after her high school graduation, she and Hans were married; then LeAna underwent open-heart surgery, which at the time represented the cutting edge of medical techniques, including packing her in ice so she didn’t bleed out during the procedure. The brave decision to travel from her hometown to undergo the procedure reveals her characteristic tenacity. LeAna never backed down without a fight, and those who loved her often noted her little firecracker spirit.

After her successful recovery, LeAna and Hans traveled the world for Hans’s work as a mining engineer, which led them to live and work in locations across the U.S., Canada and the Australian outback. Despite the family’s frequent moves, LeAna developed strong community connections in each of her new homes. She fondly recalled memories of her friends and neighbors in Butte, told tales of living in the bushland mining camp outside of Melbourne, Australia, learned authentic Chinese recipes from her neighbors in the San Francisco Bay Area (knowledge which she then passed along in cooking classes she would later teach at the Community College) and made lifelong friends who became more like family in Fortine.

 After so many varied places to call home, she and Hans, along with their daughter, Nancy, finally settled on a small farm in the Flathead Valley in the 1970s, where she began a new adventure cultivating a magnificent flower farm while Hans cared for the animal husbandry side of their operation.

LeAna worked long, hard hours in her multiple gardens, planting thousands of gladiolas, dahlias, strawflowers and dozens of other varieties, which she sold at the Kalispell Farmer’s Market, of which she was one of their first members and its fierce champion. She was active in the Northwest Montana Fair's horticulture program, filling their barn every August for years with selections from her garden and creative arrangements, alongside her granddaughter, Jadi, in whose tutelage she took great pride. LeAna shared her skill for flower arranging by conducting classes out at her farm, sharing what she had learned about displaying her gorgeous blooms in both fresh and dried bouquets. She even became locally known for her dried flower arrangements, vending at winter craft fairs and fulfilling private commissions. LeAna’s obvious entrepreneurial spirit meant she was always up to something! Her knowledge and zest for life continue with her family and all of the dear friends she gathered along the way. 

LeAna leaves behind her granddaughter, Jadi Rae Curtis; son-in-law, Ray Curtis; beloved brother and his wife, Larry and Sandra Lyons; many cherished nieces and nephews; dear friends Amy Grisak, Darci Sanborn, and Lori Livesay; and certainly, her beloved Thoms family, Garry (Sheri), Bonnie, and Ed, who were, in reality, more like children to her. 

There will be no formal memorial service besides a small gathering of friends and loved ones at a later date to spread her ashes, along with those of her daughter, Nancy, in the same location as her beloved, Hans. Memorial contributions may go to the Creston Fire Department fire hall fund, which she considered a vital endeavor for her community.