Leslie B. Stein

Leslie, the middle kid of five, enjoyed her early days on the family ranch up the Sheilds River north of Livingston. She was a natural friend to all animals and had an uncanny art of communicating with them. It sure did seem like it anyway. She would rake hay with a draft horse (Old Sandy, or Old Red) who she learned to harness herself. Along with the rest of us kids, Leslie was active in 4H (The Grannis Challengers) raising our calves for the county fair. Our dad got her started on her own little herd.

Leslie went to school early, starting out at Grannis, the little two roomer a few miles south of the ranch. There weren't enough kids to fill all the classes, so Leslie was skipped ahead a few grades. Continuing on at the old concrete Park High, Leslie was active in school plays, beat our brother David on Biology exams, and graduated 11th in her class. Leslie went on to study at MSU to the level of a junior and then went through a medical laboratory training program. She worked as a waitress off and on and as a helper at the Colmey Veterinary Clinic in Livingston for a time and later in hospital laboratories. She was on the Bridger Bowl Ski Patrol and taught beginner skiing and was a bank teller in Bozeman for a few years. Good Lord, she did a lot of other stuff too! Upholstery, sewing, knitting, cooking, artwork, ceramics. Leslie became a primary caretaker for our mom in her later years in Spokane.

Here's a thing!  Leslie was born in 1945 at the Old Park Hospital in Livingston, the very same building she spent the final years of her life (Frontier Assisted Living) --- Maybe even the same room! Her early childhood friends remained solid friends for life (you know who you are) and maintained a steady cadence of communication, the old fashioned way with hand written snail mailed letters and cards. She kept all of her correspondence. I think the five boxes at Frontier weighed in at around 75 pounds! Leslie never took to computers or phones that didn't have a cord.

A special thanks and appreciation goes to the staff and residents at Frontier Assisted Living who became such good supportive friends of Leslie and particularly Jan her table-mate who insisted on pushing Leslie in her wheelchair at the young age of 98!

A date for a service will be figured out soon --- Stay tuned.

RIP dear Leslie

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