The daffodils I planted for you in our front yard are starting to come up. Looking at them makes me smile. I got some for "your yard" too. We talked about them every year and how we loved to drive down Bridgeport and see them all lined up looking so pretty. I love you. I miss you every single day.

I love you my mom.  My tatoo has healed beautifully and i look at it everyday and say hi to you. I go by your "yard" as jayden calls it and i check on you all the time.  The girls say hi to you every time they see a butterfly. I miss you ...

I miss you mommy!!  I miss your smile, your giggle, and your comfort.  I see your picture and I both smile and cry!
Silly as it seems, I just wanted to feel close to you so I wrote...

Janey, I love you and I miss you.  I'm glad that you and Kathy are together again.  I'll see you someday dear friend.  Sorry it took so long to write this to you.

I was blessed to meet Jane only once and felt honored to do her hair. She was so enjoyable to talk to and had such a positive outlook on life and living. Such an inspiration. May God's Light shine upon her and her family!

Jane was always such an inspiration to me. Not only how she lived her final days but her no-nonsense philosophy to life. And, of course, her delightful sense of humor. When I would come to her confused she could make anything so logical in just a few words. I will miss her greatly.

I have read the tributes to Jane. You all describe her just as I remember her. I knew her best through our woman's group at St. John's Church. She was one special lady who will be greatly missed! Jane was a beautiful person. She loved the Lord and tried her best to be the best Mom and friend.

To the Leirdahl family: May God  grant you peace for today, strength for tomorrow. From the ladies who quilt at St John's Church: Sharon Howarth, Dolores Mundale, Jo Ann Null, Jo Duffy, Anna Christ, Betty Buettcher and Dorothy Pitcock.

Dear Family: Jane and I were great pals! I just loved her! Never heard her whine or complain. She was a treasure at St. John's Church and the treasurer of the Woman's Club! Jane would always volunteer for any hard job at the church. We worked together and got things done. How I miss her and her sister. We once worked at a "fish" giving out food to people who didn't have any. Oh, how she loved talking to all that came! We carried 20lb turkeys to the freezer then picked them up again to give to the needy! She won R.S.C.P "retired senior citizen" award for the most donated hours! She made hats for cancer patients, sat with people etc. Oh, how she loved her dogs and took care of them! I used to kid her about running a "dog house!" She was well loved at St John's and we are so sorry she is gone--but not forgotten by all of us!

Here's to you Jane, you will be forever loved and missed.

I had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know Jane over the past year or so and I feel so blessed to have met her. There was not a single moment with Jane where I wasn't smiling or laughing. She had such a great sense of humor and I looked forward to our visits. I cannot express my love and support for Jane's family. She was truly an amazing woman and will be dearly missed.

Gramma was a lot of things in life. She had many names throughout the years - but she maintained the core of who she was to everyone. People always got to meet her and know her the same way everyone else did. As the funny, warm, amazing person she will always be remembered as.
I have realized in the last few years that the relationship you have with your gramma is different as a child than it is as an adult. I didn't get to have a close relationship with Gramma has a child, but i had an absolutely amazing on with her as an adult. I will forever cherish the memories she and i shared. 
Gramma was proud of everyone for everything. She was constantly saying how proud she was of me and my son and what i have accomplished. And I've recently realized I did not tell her how very proud I was of her. She was a fighter to the core and literally fought to the end. I was proud to be her granddaughter and so very proud to call her my Gramma. 
I love and miss you everyday Gramma!

Debb and Family, we are so sorry for your loss.. Our thoughts are with you all during this time. From our family to yours with love always. Kellyjo, Joanne, Pat, Jacquie, Jessica and Gabriel (The Dorman Family)

To Richard, Lauri, and the rest of the Leirdahl family I want to extend my deepest sympathy. I was privilaged to know your Mother for only a short time, yet in that time I grew to love her and considered her to be the big sister I never had. We talked for hours about our children. The blessings, joys, and the hardships that came with raising them. The hard decisions and sacrifices that were made. I know how hard it was for Jane to raise four children on her own. The hard decisions and sacrifices she anguished over, and yet she made them for the good of the family. But never once did your Mother's love for her children ever waver. She loved and was proud of each one of you. Jane always made a person feel welcome and like an old friend even if she had just met them. Jane was a very special person and I will miss her deeply. Googbye, my friend.Rest in peace, you've earned it.

I miss you my mom, I feel paralyzed without you. I don't know what to do, who to trust. Who am I going to talk to mom? I miss you so much. I love you.

Dear Mommy,
I know you will find this hard to believe, but I don’t know where to begin or what to say.
For a person who has spent the last 23 years teaching kids how to express themselves coherently and in a meaningful way, I seem to be at a complete loss of words… no word or phrase seem to be able to adequately depict by feelings of profound loss and eternal gratitude for you!
I know that right now you are happy in Heaven holding Marky, chatting with Grandma and Aunt Kathy and, of course, having a cigarette and a cup coffee.  You are no longer struggling to breathe, feeling any pain, or putting on a false front that everything’s ok.  I am sure you have already made tons of friends and are telling them jokes and sharing stories about your dogs and kids. You were always loved by everyone who met you and I am confident that Heaven is no different.  
Although you and I had many conversations about when this time would come, I never could have imagined it would hurt this bad or that I would feel so alone. Memories consume me and tears flood my eyes. I look at your chair, and I hear your voice, “It’s ok honey, I’m fine!”  You always worried about us kids…and even now I am sure you are consumed by how we are doing without you and what you can do to help us.  I promise you, we are doing ok.  We have been taught by the best on how to overcome adversity and live a courageous and meaningful life. I will miss you, Mom…  I will miss your giggle when you think you’ve made a funny, I will miss your comforting words when I feel unsure and need your advice, I will forever miss your hugs and kisses, and your long goodbyes on the phone… I will miss you saying  “I love you more” and “Be happy, honey” … I will miss watching Snapped, Dateline, and all our other murder shows, and I will miss picking out our annual Charlie Brown trees at Christmas, but  most of all, I will miss you, Mom, and spending time with you.  Thank you for being an incredible mom who has always been there for me to talk to, vent to, lean on and laugh with… 
I will miss calling you for advice or sharing a story with you about Payton and Delaney. However, each night as I tuck by little girls into bed and kiss them both good-night… I will say a secret little prayer to God that He help me be half the mom to them that you were to me.  I pray to have your  patience when all they need is for me just to listen, I pray to say the right words when they ask for my advice, I pray to have the strength you had with me when their little hearts get broken, and I pray for you, Mom,  to help me when I feel so overwhelmed….  You always had the perfect words that made everything seem alright.  I always felt so safe and so loved by you.  I pray to be the woman, the wife, and the mom you would be proud of and that I give my family the unconditional love and strength you gave our family.  
Despite the tremendous emptiness inside of me, I feel incredibly blessed to have you as my mom.  Like all mothers, you had an incredible impact on the person I am today.  I thank you for nurturing my inner strength, building my self confidence, encouraging my sense of humor, and empowering my competitive spirit all of which were  instilled in me by you.  Through your actions and your words of wisdom, I learned to work hard because nothing in life comes easy, to respect others as I would like to be respected, to be true to myself, to find happiness in life’s simple things, and to put family first.  I will never forget the touch of your hand that made me feel so safe, the sound of voice that gave me great comfort, and the strength of your character that made me believe I could do anything I set my mind to doing.  Through your life lessons, I will continue to strive to be the best wife, the best mom, and the best person I can be.  Thank you for being an incredible role model, an amazingly courageous woman, and a true inspiration to me!

I love you, Mommy,
Kimmie

   I have been called hero by some and other things by others. Everyone has a hero, maybe they have many. My hero is Jane Leirdahl, my mother. I am who and what I am because of my mom. All my successes are hers and my failures my own and most likely for not listening to her. 
  For many years I have thought about the meaning of success. What does it mean to be successful, and how is it measured? Is it measured by the amount of money you have? Mom would say no, she would say it is measured by the amount of love that you have in your life.   I believe mom was a highly successful person. She raised four great children, all of whom went on to do great things. One retired from the Navy, one a business owner, another who is an educator and me I’m still hanging out in the Army; and all of us in my opinion very successful in life and in family. My mom achieved her success as a mother by working two and three jobs, providing and instilling good values and morals in all of us. She demonstrated strength and courage in raising four children on her own with very little money but none of us went hungry or without clothes, but she did. Her children were always place first above everything else in her life including herself. Mom was successful in life in so many ways. She has a family who loves and adores her, friends who love her and mom loved each of us back as individuals and unconditionally; if only I could be so blessed to have that in my life.
   Mom didn’t go to any of my swim meets or my water polo games because she had to work. She encouraged all of us to be in sports because she felt that it was important for us to learn and grow.  But mom and I did spend a lot time watching old movies, T.V. shows and talking about anything and everything; I will cherish those and many other things.
  When I joined the Army, mom was concerned for me of course; I was only able to see her when I came home to visit on leave. I think back and wish I had come home more so that I could have done more with her and for her. Mom gave everything and asked for nothing, and I wanted to give as much back as I had received.
  Mom loved so unconditionally and always accepted you for who you are, a trait I need to improve on. She seemed to love most everyone that she met and would talk to just about anyone just to have “a talk and a cup of coffee”. 
  Some things I will miss about mom aside from the obvious are the ways in which she said things. Tuesday was “chewsday”, sandwich was” samich”, everything seemed to be a “doodad” or a “whatchamacall” it. When I was younger Kim and I were riding with mom and giving her a hard time as children do, and she told us to stop “ribbing” her, well that just had us explode in laughter and of course some more “ribbing”. And when we arrived at home and mom asked us to help with her “parcels” that led to more “ribbing” about the word parcel.  No matter how many times I asked mom not to feed the dogs, she always fed them part of her food, candy or whatever she was eating. I caught her this one time and she just chuckled. 
  I am incredibly sad that I will never get to watch TV or just talk with mom again. Or that I don’t get to ask her opinion on something or listen as she gives her commentary on the news. But I have had four wonderful years with her living with me in my house and I laughed and cried with mom and I will never forget those times for the rest of my life. I wanted to do more for her and to give mom back at least some of what was so freely given to me. I am blessed to have had a mother that loved me for me and so completely. 

  I love you more than I could ever express
Dick

I love you Mom. I admire your strength, courage and steadfast devotion to your children. I loved hearing your stories about them. One of my favorites is when you were doing laundry using a washing tub to hand wash clothes. You told me you put jeans in to soak and just as you were going to start washing them you saw three little heads swimming around in the water. You were startled, but not really surprised. You waited for your kids to come home. When Richard walked in, you said “Dick, go and get those things out of my wash. With a scowl on his little face, he asked you “what did you do to my snakes!”  My other favorite is your belief that your children were throwing away or getting rid of your dishes instead of washing them. You were right! Kim and Debbie were burying the dirty dishes outside instead of washing them! 
You were so compassionate. I remember how you held my hand when I was crying over Richard being in Iraq; your reassuring words were such comfort to me. Our house feels so empty and different now. I will always remember you sitting in your chair, Canada coffee mug filled with a splash of coffee and half of cup of vanilla coffee mate, Molly, Sadie, Abby, Jack and Odin laying nearby, murder program on TV and you knitting while snacking on jelly bellies or licorice. I know you are in a better place and are smiling down on us from heaven. However, selfishly I wish you were here because I miss you so so much. I love you Mom.

I will always love my mother and I will miss her dearly. I know she is near by her scent in the air.

I met Jane when I was a very young man. I met her through Bob and we worked together , laughed together and fought together. I want to thank Bob for introducing me to his mother and BOB-BOB. Times are hard right now; miss ya. Love ya....

IF TEARS COULD BUILD A STAIRWAY

If tears could build a stairway
And memories were a lane
We would walk right up to heaven
And bring you back again

Our hearts still ache in sadness
And secret tears still flow
What it meant to lose you
No one can every know

We think of you in silence
We often speak your name
Your memory is our keepsake
With which we'll never part

Since you'll never be forgotten
We pledge to you today
A hallowed place within our hearts
Is where you'll always stay

God has you in his keeping
We have you in our hearts

We love you Jane

We shared the love of your son; we shared the love of a grandchild we gave you. She has your strength and looks like her aunt kimmy. We share the love of animals and just know I will see you again and kiss Grunt for me. You will be missed and you are my favorite mom-in-law. Always....

I only knew Jane for 3 years and yet when we were together it seemed like we had known each other so much longer. We were able to share our lives and the lives of those we loved with each other. There was always a twinkle in her eye and a smile, especially when she talked about her beloved children and grandchildren. Her humor was so great. She could make jokes about almost anything. We had so much fun laughing together as she sat knitting on another pillow and I was doing my craft. What treasured memories I have. I was so hoping to be able to spend more time with her when we moved to Washington yet God had other plans. I love you Jane and will miss your spunkiness and your great big smile. What a tremendous fight she fought!
               Love you  Barb

Dear Great Gramma,
 We all miss you but we also new that you were in pain. You had a loving family and there's times when we just want you to be here and by here I ment all the time. Your in a better place ware your not in pain an we will probally never see you again and if heaven wasn't so far away, I already would be there.

Dear Great Gramma,
 We all miss you but we also new that you were in pain. You had a loving family and there's times when we just want you to be here and by times I ment all the time. Your in a better place ware your not in pain an we will probally never see you again and if heaven wasn't so far away, I already would be there.

We loved Jane very much. She had such a great attitude toward life. We so admired her spunk. She was positive and upbeat about everything around her. She must be having a grand time in Heaven, being with those she loved so much, keeping an eye on those still here, and romping with the wonderful dogs she so enjoyed. We will never forget her.

I knew Jane from when she worked at McConkeys. What stands out the most about Jane was her deep love of her family and dogs. She always made me laugh, especially when she was learning to drive the forklift. I was sitting at the table folding paper sleeves and I felt my chair begin to slide forward. All we could do is laugh. I miss those times and will miss Jane dearly. My thoughts and prayers are with Jane's family.

Brave, smart, funny, kind, generous.  Thank you, Jane.

Hi grandma! I love you more than you could EVER imagine!Next time when i see a butterfly, it'll be you! xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Grandma I love you and I miss you so much. I loved spending time with you. I won't ever forget you and you'll always be in my heart

     I was LUCKY to have been around Jane for the past 20+ years.  She was a tremendous person, mother, grandmother, mother-in-law and fighter.  The way she handled her illness were both admired and respected by me.  I never heard her complain or her attitude change.  I have talked about her courage, attitude and fight with many groups of students over the past several years.  She was such a strong woman and a role model on how to handle adversity.
     I have great love for Jane.  She was always fun and easy to be around, always so caring and kind.  She had a great sense of humor and was a very easy person to talk to.  She was so kind always to me as her son-in-law and to our daughters, Payton and Delaney, as their grandmother.  
     I have great admiration for how she raised four great kids under less than perfect circumstances.  I particulary want to thank her for the job she did as a parent with my wife, Kim,  who is the BEST and a reflection of her. 
     My sympathies to Kim, Bob, Dick and Debby and the whole Leirdahl Family.  I love you all......Jane was AWESOME!

I know how much your family is going to miss you.  Wherever you are, keep em' laughing :) I will carry on your "sammich" legacy!
Amy

i love and miss u so much grandma i wish i had more time with u..but the time we spent together meant so much to me and i wouldnt change any of it for the world...im glad we always had fun times together and im gonna miss seeing and hanging out with u...i will never forget u grandma ur everything to me....x0x0

Hi Bob and Dick. I don't expect you would remember me, I was 2 years behind Dick in school and played water polo with you. I met your mom a couple times. Sorry for your loss. Please accept my condolences.

I've only known you for a little over 2 years, but the time I've gotten to know you was special. I was one of the few that got to go to one of your doctors appointments where you had to get your chemo. All I can say is WOW! You are definitely a trooper! No matter how much pain you were in you still knew how to make everyone laugh. That's what I loved about you, you had such a great sense of humor! I love you and I'll miss you very much!

OBITUARY

Jane Agnes Leirdahl

August 12, 1934 – May 20, 2011

Powers Funeral Home

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