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Obituary: Leona Pearl DeWitt, 91, Longtime Resident of Highland Park

Funeral services will be held at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale,CA., Wee Kirk O' the Heather Chapel at 1:30 on Friday, October 28, 2011.

Our beloved mother and grandmother Leona Pearl DeWitt, 91, of Highland Park passed away Oct. 17th 2011, at Royal Palms Convalescent Hospital in Glendale, CA.

Leona is survived by four children, Harold Morgan of Florence, OR; Judy Allen and her husband Roger of Longview, WA; Norella Sue Frye and her husband Bud of Salt Lake City, UT and Peggy Lynn DeWitt Palacios of Monrovia, CA. She is also survivd by her beloved grandchildren and their spouses, Paula Ness, Jim and Staci Allen, Latrisha Phillips, Judy and Matthew Tyler, David and Jennifer Morgan, Debbie and Wendell Hicken, Richard Morgan, John Morgan, Michael and Ana Harris, Ken and Barbara DeWitt, Mary DeWitt Van Zant and husband Peter as well as her dear great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.  Preceding her in death was her sister, Nova Wade, brothers Oras and Kay Gadberry--all from Oklahoma--and a brother Curtis Gadberry of Phoenix, AZ.

She was born February 6, 1920, in Cherokee County, OK to William Gadberry and Pearl Crowder.

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A child of the depression, Leona worked hard all her life. An eager student, she was asked to drop out of school at 10 years of age to work on a sharecropper’s farm in Oklahoma.  Although completing only the 6th grade she astounded those around her with her excellent grasp of the English language, penmanship and mathematical abilities.

Leona married her first husband, Richard V. Morgan in 1939.  He preceded her in death in October 1943 as a casualty of WWII.  Leona married Dewey J. DeWitt in 1945.  They were married 21 years before his death in 1966.

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Leona and Dewey were fixtures in the Highland Park area for years as owners of “Dewey’s Malt Shop” at the corner of N. Figueroa Street and Annan Way.

Funeral services will be held at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale,CA., Wee Kirk O’ the Heather Chapel at 1:30 on Friday, October 28, 2011.

Her family and her faith were everything to Leona.  When she woke in the morning she talked to her Lord and included prayers for her family each day.  Her last thoughts as she lay her head down at night were for her family.  Toward the end of her life, her constant prayer was, “Lord, please take me to be with you, I’m ready”.   She was loved by us all and will be greatly missed.


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