Leora E. O’Neal, 104, died Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at Brookstone Village in Omaha, Neb. 

Visitation will be Thursday, June 19, from 7-8:30 p.m. at Willoughby Funeral Home in Howard. The funeral service will be held at Endeavor Presbyterian Church in Fedora at 11 a.m. on Friday, June 20, with interment at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Artesian.

Leora E. Kothe was born April 3, 1921, to Fred and Nancy (Eller) Kothe on a farm northeast of Fedora. She graduated from Fedora High School in 1939. She received a teaching certificate from Eastern State Normal at Madison in 1941 and a Bachelor of Science degree from Dakota State College in 1974. She married Lester O’Neal on June 11, 1944, at Aberdeen. She taught in various schools for 26 years, including West Clearwater, Burbank Consolidated, Presho, Fedora, and Howard Public School.

She was a member of Rebekah Lodge in Vilas and Madison, and the Endeavor Presbyterian Church in Fedora where she served as Elder, Session Clerk and Sunday school teacher.

Leora is survived by her children, Jane Hodgkin, Judith (Donald) Deming, John (Jill) O’Neal and James (Barbara) O’Neal; eight grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; and one great-great grandchild.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Lester in 1996; infant sister; her brother, Dallas Kothe; daughter-in-law, Linda O’Neal; and son-in-law, Charles Hodgkin.