Leona D. Bolles, 93, of Arcola, died at 4:59 PM Wednesday, December 5, 2012, surrounded by her family at Provena Covenant Hospital, Urbana, after a brief illness.

A funeral service honoring her life will be held at 10:30 AM Saturday, December 8, 2012 at the Arcola United Methodist Church, 121 S. Locust Street, with Reverends Vince Rohn and Bruce Baker officiating. Burial will follow in the Arcola Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 5:00-8:00 PM on Friday at the Shrader Funeral Home, 204 N. Locust Street, Arcola.

Leona was born August 25, 1919 at Forest Lake, Pennsylvania on the farm of her parents, George Delbert and Pauline Alice (Seiber) Day. The family was very poor and her early life was spent working on the farm and helping her parents care for her two younger brothers.

She attended school to the eighth grade in a one-room schoolhouse located two miles away. She often had to miss school because of the heavy snows or because of work at home.

When she was about ten years old, she met Charles Lindbergh. He was forced to land in a nearby field because of engine trouble and Leona's father took her with him to the field when he saw the plane go down.

When she was fourteen years old, she worked for fifty cents a day cleaning house for a neighbor two miles away. When she was eighteen years old, she worked as a live-in maid for a doctor in Princeton, New Jersey. It was there that the doctor's wife taught her how to properly entertain guests.

On August 10, 1940, she married James Coy Bolles at the Methodist Church Parsonage in Cranberry, New Jersey. The newlyweds lived at various addresses in New Jersey until Leona and their firstborn moved in with Leona's in-laws while her husband served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. During that time she was employed as a teller in a local bank.

In 1960 the family moved to Metairie, Louisiana, where James became traffic manager of American Cyanamid outside New Orleans. She and her husband enjoyed the many restaurants and parties in New Orleans. She was a member of the Jefferson Parish Homemaker's Extension for many years, serving as its president in the organization that enjoyed making crafts, quilting, and entertaining. Leona and James moved to Arcola in April, 1994. They met many new friends and were active in the Arcola United Methodist Church.

She was always a homemaker and enjoyed visiting friends, playing cards, and in later years, playing dominoes. She was especially proud of her family and enjoyed being with them.

She is survived by her daughter, Priscilla Joyce (Dr. Rob) Arrol of Arcola; and a son, James Wesley (Lynn) Bolles of Birmingham, Alabama; five grandchildren; and fifteen great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband of 69 years, her parents, one brother, and one grandson.

Memorials are suggested to The Arcola Foundation, Arcola Public Library, or donor's choice.

Online condolences to the family may be sent to www.hilligossshraderfh.com.