Obituaries : Leota Fern Sailer

Leota Fern McNeal Sailer, 76, died December 23, 2017, at ABCM Rehabilitation Centers of Independence.

Funeral services will be at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, December 30, 2017 at Blessed Hope Church in Vinton with Rev. Peter Lolagne officiating. Visitation will be for an hour before services at the church. Private burial at Evergreen Cemetery, Vinton.

Leota was born April 6, 1941, in Vinton, Iowa, the daughter of Charles and Ethel Noe McNeal. She attended school in Vinton, graduating from Washington High School in 1959.

On November 2, 1963, Leota was united in marriage with Dick Sailer in Vinton. The couple lived in Vinton until moving to Independence in 1979.

Leota worked at the Vinton Canning Factory before going to work at Collins Radio in Cedar Rapids. While at Collins, she worked on the Gemini and Apollo spacecraft.
She left Collins to be a stay-at-home mother to her two daughters, Valerie and Becky.

She is survived by her daughters, Valerie (Dean) Close of Brandon and Becky (Peter) Lolagne of Independence; eight grandchildren: Bethany (Judah) Gates of Vinton; Jonathan (Laura) Close of Ankeny; Phillip (Haley) Close of Vinton; Leah (Jadon) Mullinex of Cedar Rapids; Lydia Close of Vinton; Abigail Close of Brandon; and Jayden and Charisse Lolagne of Independence; seven great grandchildren; sister Rosalie (Carl) Zeller of Walker; and brother Harley (Mamie) McNeal of Davenport.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Dick, in 2013; and two sisters, Helen Staton and Luella Griffioen.

A memorial fund has been established.

Van Steenhuyse-Russell Funeral Home is caring for Leota and her family.