Leona Victoria Elgee
1926-2016
Leona Elgee died Thursday, March 24, 2016 after a very brief illness.
Lee, known as Nany to her grandchildren, was born Leona Victoria Karlson on September 9, 1926. She grew up in Denver, Colorado, where she eventually attended one year at the University of Denver but lacked enough funds to continue. Instead, she and a friend joined the Cadet Nurse Corps, committing to stay in nursing for three years after graduation in exchange for the government paying for their tuition, books, and uniforms as well as paying them ten dollars a month. She picked the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, out of a book listing accredited hospitals.
She liked everything about living in Boston and nurses training. At The Brigham (now Brigham and Women’s), she met Neil Elgee, a medical intern, and they were married in 1951 in a ceremony officiated by his father. She joined Neil in Rochester, New York. There, she worked in a small children’s ward at Highland Hospital, where she was head nurse.
In 1952, Lee and Neil moved to Seattle, Washington, where Neil had an appointment as a research fellow and Lee took a job at the University of Washington’s teaching hospital, Harborview (before the UW hospital existed).
Shortly after the birth of their first child, Joan, Neil (a Canadian) was drafted in the “Doctor Draft” and stationed in Japan. Lee and Joan joined him, and they spent two years in Japan, where their second daughter, Susan, was born. When Neil’s two years of service ended, they moved back to Washington and settled into a house on Mercer Island.
Three more children (Laurie, Steven, and Karen) followed.
In addition to raising five children, Lee was a regular symphony-goer, an avid gardener, and a world traveller. Her many volunteer activities included a local school and the Trinity Thrift Shop, a joint ministry of Trinity Parish Church and Seattle First Baptist Church. In her forties she took up downhill skiing, which she continued for thirty years.
She doted upon her grandchildren, and many people have stories of trying to charm a baby away from her, only to fail miserably.
She is survived by her husband of 64 years, Neil, and her five children (and their spouses): Joan Elgee (Dan Saul) of Olympia, Washington; Sue Elgee (Steve Eglash) of Palo Alto, California; Laurie Stegner (John Stegner) of Moscow, Idaho; Steve Elgee (Sara Elgee) of Portland, Oregon; and Karen Dunn (Dan Dunn) of Larkspur, California.
She is also survived by her eleven grandchildren: Sarah Stegner, Kirsten Saul, Elizabeth Stegner, Adam Saul, Katherine Stegner, Lauren Elgee, Rachel Eglash, John Dunn, Peter Elgee, Abigail Dunn, and Hannah Dunn. She will be deeply missed.
A memorial service will be held at Seattle First Baptist Church on Saturday, April 16 at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Ernest Becker Foundation at www.ernestbecker.org.
