Leona Wirt

Leona Wirt died peacefully at home in Clive, Iowa at age 100 on November 8, 2016. She was born Leona Josephine Barrett on June 29, 2016, in Marysville, Montana. Her father, William Barrett, was killed in an accident when Leona was five years old, forcing her widowed mother to move with Leona and her two siblings (William, Jr and Althea) to Butte, Montana, to find work to keep the family together. Not long after moving to Butte, while playing with friends Leona fell off of a brick wall and suffered a severe skull fracture. She spent several weeks in the hospital, and the local newspaper ran a story about the incident with the headline “Local Girl May Die”. The newspaper was right, of course, but they missed the date by 94 years. Leona was treated for her skull fracture by Dr. William Monaghan, whom she described as the kindest man she ever knew. Dr. Monaghan filled a void through the years and became a father figure to Leona and her siblings, thus giving rise to her unshakable lifelong belief that “everything will work out okay”. She fully recovered and lived a normal life in Butte, graduating salutatorian (second) in her 1934 high school class of 300 students. In the depths of the Great Depression with no money for college, Leona obtained work after graduation as a legal secretary, which eventually led to her ten-year employment as office manager with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Two of those ten years with the FBI were spent on special confidential assignment in Bogota, Columbia and Port of Spain, Trinidad. After returning from South America, she was hired by the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington, D.C. While in Washington, Leona was introduced to a fellow FBI employee, Special Agent Lyle J. Wirt, and they were married on March 28, 1948. In 1952, at the respective ages of 42 and 36, Lyle and Leona said goodbye to the FBI and moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to enable Lyle to pursue his dream of engaging in the private practice of law. Between them, their total inventory of assets consisted of a few clothing items, $1200 in cash, and a 1949 Dodge. Success was not assured by any means, but they were undeterred (see above, “everything will work out okay”). Predictably, her life in Sioux Falls worked out much better than “okay”. Leona’s days in Sioux Falls were filled with her duties as homemaker, confidante, family strategist, budget enforcer, taxi driver, and family psychologist. Her storytelling ability was remarkable, her sense of humor was legendary, and her laugh was unforgettable. If you told a joke that really made her laugh (off-color was just fine, thank you very much), you were her friend for life. Her father had immigrated directly from England and always maintained that their family was related to the London writers known as “The Barretts of Wimpole Street”, which may explain why Leona was a voracious reader in her spare time. She loved music, and it was totally irrelevant that she could not carry a tune to save her soul. Though small of stature, nobody ever underestimated her more than once. She was an active member of Calvary Episcopal Church and of Chapter I, PEO. Without fanfare, she donated freely of her time and talents to worthy causes and charities too numerous to mention -- and she did so for all of the right reasons. Leona and Lyle were married for 55 years until Lyle passed away at the age of 92 in 2003. She stayed in Sioux Falls until November of 2010 when she moved to the Des Moines area to be near her son and his family. She lived for the past six years at Walnut Ridge in Clive. Leona is survived by her son, Brian L. Wirt of Des Moines, his wife, Kelly, and their two children, Aaron and Amelia. They are grateful beyond words for the privilege of being part of Leona’s family. Her husband and two siblings preceded her in death. She wished to be remembered in the following words of a poem by an unknown author: “Life was summer to the heart of one who died believing she was young”. She was deeply loved, and will be missed by all who knew her. In lieu of flowers, contributions in loving memory can be made to any of the following four entities: Hospice of Central Iowa; Calvary Episcopal Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; PEO Chapter I in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; or Presbyterian Homes Foundation (Chaplaincy & Spiritual Life at Walnut Ridge Community – Clive, Iowa). A visitation (10:00 AM) and ceremony of remembrance (11:00 AM) will be held on Saturday, November 19 at Caldwell Parrish Funeral Home, 8201 Hickman Road, Urbandale, Iowa.