Ellen G. Oman, 101
Ellen G. Oman of Coeur d’Alene died at the Courtyard by Regency on June 16, 2013. Ellen was born in Estherville, Iowa, on July 21, 1911, to Guy G. and Florence (Hobein) Gardner. Her brother William B. and sister Mary completed the family.
They moved to Fargo, and later Jamestown, N.D. Ellen graduated from N.D.S.U. in Fargo with a degree in dietetics. She met Christoph W. Leonhard in college and after completing her internship at Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia. She and Chris were married in Jamestown on Dec. 30, 1938. They welcomed their first daughter, Mary Ellen, in 1939 and second daughter, Barbara, in 1946.
Ellen was a homemaker and loved the yearly family camping trips, spending time at her father’s summer cottages in Minnesota and growing beautiful roses in her many flower beds. As the girls grew older, Ellen began working as a dietitian in the Bismarck hospitals. Upon retiring, Ellen and Chris moved to Lake Havasu City, Ariz.
When Chris passed away in 1977, Ellen began many traveling adventures with her friends. She traveled to many European countries, Africa and India.
For many years she was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Bismarck and Lake Havasu City, member of D.A.R., The Genealogy Society, and P.E.O.
She married Arlie A. Oman in 1983 and they enjoyed traveling in their motor home to visit her two children and his three children. They divided their time between Bismarck and Lake Havasu City for a few years until they permanently stayed in Arizona. Arlie died in 1993. Then she moved to Coeur d’Alene in 1999.
Ellen is survived by her daughter Barbara and (Bart) Proper, Coeur d’Alene, and grandchildren: James Sinclair, Jennifer Flansburg, Tom Davenport, and Christie Villano and seven great grandchildren.
Ellen’s parents, brother Bill Gardner, sister Mary Condon, husbands Chris Leonhard and Arlie Oman, and daughter Mary Ellen Sinclair predeceased her.
Memorial services will be held 2 p.m. Monday, July 1, 2013, at Yates Funeral Home, Coeur d’Alene Chapel.
Please visit Ellen’s memorial and sign her online guest book at www.yatesfuneralhomes.com.
Charitable donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or Hospice of North Idaho.