Leah Lehman

The thread who bound the family together as mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister and friend, Leah (Mauch) Lehman passed away on Tuesday, June 16 at the age of 96 after a life stitched with warmth, love, a ready smile and a plate of cookies.

Leah was born in 1919 in North Dakota, the eldest daughter in a family of 15 children to Karl and Katharena Mauch. Her life-long loves of children and knack for cooking, baking and canning were threaded in those early years by her large family and were skills that helped her find work when she followed her brothers to Oregon in her mid-20s.

Leah married Lawrence Lehman in 1945, settled on his family’s farmstead in Portland, Ore. and spent nearly 70 years quilting a satisfying life harvesting nourishing food, creating wedding dresses, prom dresses and dolls for her four children, her seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. She had a fun, kind and positive spirit that showed in her gardening, sewing, card and board game playing, storytelling and time spent with her extended family, especially the children.

Leah is loved by her surviving children Arlene Lehman, Janelle MacKay, Cathy Lehman, and Larry Lehman; seven grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, five siblings and extended family and friends who span the western states.

A memorial service will be held at Union Cemetery in Cedar Mill, Ore. at 11 a.m., Thursday, June 25. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer's Association. Arrangements by Pegg, Paxson and Springer Funeral Chapel.