Leanna May Deeds

Leanna May Deeds was born on March 11, 1947 to Charles and Lyndall Deeds in Tacoma Washington. In 1955, the family moved to Portland, Oregon where she resided for the rest of her life. She died peacefully in her sleep on April 27th, 2023 at the age of 76.

Leanna was born 3 months premature, weighing less than 2 pounds. She was placed in an incubator and the oxygen damaged the retinas in her eyes causing her to be permanently blind. Never letting her disability stop her, she attended public schools with the help of a special teacher who came to her school to teach her Braille. She graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1965 and went on to graduate from Pacific University in Forest Grove in 1969, with a double degree in Journalism and Political Science.

In 1972, Leanna began her 41-year career at Portland Community College. For the first 12 years she worked as secretary for the Office of Students with Disabilities on the Sylvania Campus. In July 1984, she moved to Cascade Campus where she worked for two years as a receptionist then as an Information Clerk. This was a perfect job for Leanna as she could store so much information in her head! Later, she returned to Sylvania Campus where she worked as a switchboard operator until she retired in 2013.

In September 1970, Leanna received her first Guide Dog, a golden retriever named Thad. During her career she brought home 4 more Guide Dogs that helped her navigate her long commute to and from work every day: black lab Karen in March 1981, yellow lab Aretha in September 1990, yellow lab Larry in December 1997, and her final guide dog, golden retriever Ramada in July of 2006.

Because Leanna had such a good memory, she was the data bank for all the important dates in the family. If anyone had a question, there was a good chance Leanna had the answer!

Leanna was active at University Park United Methodist Church holding many leadership positions, but her favorite church activity was singing in the choir. She also enjoyed going to plays, especially Shakespeare plays in Ashland, following the Portland Trailblazers, reading, shopping and traveling.

Leanna is survived by her sister Sue Magedanz, niece Laura, and nephew Jeff. She was preceded in death by her parents, Charles and Lyndall Deeds.

There will be a memorial service held at Portsmouth Union Church on Friday May 19th at 1:00 pm. 4775 N. Lombard St. Portland, Oregon 97203.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.finleysunsethills.com for the Deeds family.