Lela A. Lelacheur

Our beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend has gone home. Lela A. LeLacheur passed away peacefully on February 6, 2021, in the home of her daughter in Helena, Montana at the age of 91. Funeral liturgy by Father Alphonsus I. Enelichi, MSP will celebrate Lela’s life 10:30 am Monday, August 9, 2021, at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, 409 13th St S, Great Falls, MT. Recitation of the rosary will take place at 10 am preceding the mass. Internment will take place in the columbarium at Mount Olivet Cemetery immediately following. Lela Agatha Willis LeLacheur was born to Leland and Agatha Willis on the family farm near Hurd, North Dakota on August 11,1929. She moved with her family to Shelby, Montana in 1935, graduating from Shelby High School in 1948. After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Technology from Seattle University, she moved to Great Falls where she was a Medical Technologist at both the Columbus and Deaconess Hospitals.Lela met and married Leo LeLacheur in 1952, they divorced in 1973. After spending several years as a homemaker with six children, Lela was employed by the American Red Cross Blood Services, in Great Falls from 1966 to 1978, then in Missoula from 1978 until her retirement in 1989. After her retirement, she continued her service by volunteering with American Red Cross National Disaster Services, assisting victims of earthquakes and hurricanes. Lela returned to Great Falls in 1991, spending her time in service to others. She was an active member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. She often drove the nuns to take communion to those who could not make it to mass and managed the Harvest Dinner at St. Joe’s for several years. Lela was also an active participant at the Great Falls Senior Citizens Center, frequently attending exercise classes then staying to chat with the others. She would take her grandchildren to lunch or the Thursday night dinners there, most often when the favorite, fried shrimp, was on the menu. Lela loved her grandchildren oh so much, delighted in watching them grow up and was grateful for the time she was able to spend with them. Lela also greatly enjoyed her group of wonderful friends. Lela was preceded in death by her mother, Agatha Willis in 2006; father, Leland Willis in 1969; brother, Duane Willis in 2006; sister, Vera Crisafulli in 2005; and sister, Kathleen Sansaver in 2020. She is survived by sisters, Theresa Dunham of Pasco, WA and Rita Glatt of Kennewick, WA. She is also survived by her children, Carolyn Toulouse of Amarillo, TX, Lucy Weeder of Helena, MT, Merna Lechman of Helena, MT, Nancy Fulton of Great Falls, MT, Eric LeLacheur of Townsend, MT, and Fred LeLacheur of Redmond, OR; ten grandchildren; and 7 great-grandchildren.