On May 2, 2018, Leone Elizabeth (Lenzmeier) Medenwaldt, passed away peacefully in New Hope, Minnesota. Leone was a beloved daughter, sister, wife, mother, aunt, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great grandmother. Visitation will be held on Monday, May 14, 2018 from 9:30 am to 10:30 am, followed by the funeral service at 10:30 am at St. John’s Catholic Church, Wahpeton.
Burial will be in Fairview Memorial Gardens, Wahpeton. Arrangements are entrusted to Vertin-Munson Funeral Home. Leone was born to Marie (Ruhr) and John Lenzmeier on June 29, 1925.
She was the fifth oldest child in this family of 17. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Dennis, her infant brother Frank, infant sister Sheila, her parents, her brothers Laverne (Bud), Harold (Sport), Carol William (Bill), Douglas, Terry, Dennis, and sisters Rosemary Berg and Audrea Lenzmeier. Leone grew up in and around Wahpeton, North Dakota.
In 1946 she encountered a young man named Dennis Medenwaldt at a dance. Dennis had recently returned from his Prisoner of War experience in Germany. The two fell in love and married in 1947 at St. John’s Parish House in Wahpeton.
Dennis worked in the area until reenlisting in the Military 1 year later. Leone and Dennis had three children over the years: Vicki Dee Jeter (1947), Denise Lori Woodbury (1951) and Holli Ann Aparicio (1965). Dennis served in the Air Force and the family moved about quite a bit during those years, living in Maryland, Washington, DC, Maryland, Hawaii, South Dakota, England, Massachusetts and Delaware.
After Dennis’ retirement the family lived in Wahpeton, followed by eight years in Minot, ND. After Holli’s high school graduation the family moved to Wahpeton, then years later to Washington state, and finally back to Wahpeton. Leone was known as a good friend to many.
She was the person who would “give the shirt off her back” to someone in need. She made friends wherever she lived. She enjoyed going dancing with Dennis, “having coffee” with her friends, watching her favorite TV shows, talking to friends over the phone, and doting on her grandchildren.
Leone will be remembered fondly by all who knew her as someone who was kind and generous. She will be missed greatly by her surviving siblings: Ellyn (Lenzmeier) Thompson, Nita (Lenzmeier) Steen, Kitty (Lenzmeier) Olson, Bob Lenzmeier, and Ralph Lenzmeier, her children (Vicki, Denise, and Holli), her beloved sons- in-law Duwayne Woodbury and Ricardo Aparicio, and her grandchildren: Jennifer (Woodbury) Arapis, Melinda (Woodbury) Huss, Brooke (Woodbury) McCracken, Heather (Jeter) Weaver, Lydia and Sofia Aparicio. Great-grandchildren: Jessica and Nick Arapis, Josh and Holli Weaver, Noah and Lily Huss, Teagan McCracken and great-great- grandchild, Peyton Ferguson, and her many, many nieces and nephews.
Memorials preferred to the Alzheimer’s Association at Alz.org.
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