Wasco County OR Archives Obituaries.....Heideman, Leah Wright September 25, 2006
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Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com December 31, 2006, 8:39 pm

The Dalles Chronicle, October 5, 2006
     Leah Wright Heideman, 89, a resident of The Dalles and former longtime 
resident of Orofino, Idaho, died at a local care facility on Sept. 25, 2006. 
She was born Dec. 16, 1916 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, the first of three 
children to Brigham and Mary Mildred (Prince) Wright. She lived in Canada 
until she was 3 years old and then the family moved to Weiser, Idaho. She 
graduated from Weiser High School when she was 16.

     She went on to attend Idaho Junior College in Coeur d’Alene and worked 
for the Idaho State Highway Department. While working for the highway 
department she met Gerald Lumper. On June 16, 1946 the two wed in Coeur 
d’Alene, Idaho. 

     They moved to Sandpoint, Idaho and bought a farm they called The Lazy L 
Ranch. While living in Sandpoint they had three children, Jim, Bruce and 
Geraldine. The winter of 1950 was so cold they decided to sell the ranch and 
move to Orofino.

     While living in Orofino, she gave birth to fraternal twins, Noel and 
Neal. 

     Her husband went to work as a barber, a skill he had picked up prior to 
the war, and she stayed at home to raise the children. 

     They still wanted to raise their children on a farm so after four years 
on Orofino Creek they bought a place outside of Orofino, on Harmony Heights 
Loop, and named it Clearview Farm. 

     As the children all entered school she went to work at the county 
Extension office and then the local Agricultural Stabilization and 
Conservation Office, retiring as program supervisor in 1977. 

     Once all the kids began heading off to college they decided to move back 
into town. In September 1973, he died of leukemia.

     After his death, she began painting again, a talent she had set aside 
when she began raising her children. Over the next 25 years she painted 
several hundred canvases. 

     In 1976 she married a retired Fraser farmer named Floyd Bowfish and 
enjoyed traveling with him until his death in December 1984, after eight years 
of marriage.

     She married for the last time in 1985 to Harvey Heideman. They traveled, 
spent winters in Arizona, and eventually moved to Clarkston, Wash., to be near 
her son Noel, and his wife, Tina, and Harvey’s son Rick, and his wife, Jeané. 
Harvey died in Clarkston in July 1997. 

     She stayed another two years in Clarkston after his death, and then moved 
to Kennewick, Wash., to live with her son, Neal, and his wife, Laurie. In 
October 2000 she moved to The Dalles to live near her son, Bruce, and his 
wife, Marolyn Wilks. 

     She is survived by her children and their spouses: Jim and Sheryl Lumper, 
Spokane; Bruce Lumper and Marolyn Wilks, The Dalles; Geraldine and Jerry 
Garten, Bonners Ferry, Idaho; Noel and Tina Lumper, Clarkston, Wash., and, 
Neal and Laurie Lumper, Kennewick, Wash.; 14 grandchildren and three great-
grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents and two brothers. 
Services will be held Saturday, Oct. 7, at 11 a.m. at Pine Hills Funeral 
Chapel in Orofino with Cindy Preszler officiating. Committal services will 
follow at the Riverside Cemetery. 

Additional Comments:
Written permission to reprint given by The Dalles Chronicle, The Dalles, 
Oregon, Dan Spatz, Editor (e-mail dated 3/7/2006).


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