Gladys Ethel Leeper, age 94, the daughter of Edward Hubert and Maude May (Town) Keller, was born December 4, 1929, in Decatur County, north of Lineville, Iowa. She left this life on Monday, September 30, 2024, at the Decatur County Hospital in Leon, Iowa.

Gladys grew up and attended school with her five siblings. She graduated from Leon High in 1947. She and Miles Lewis Leeper was high school sweethearts and married on April 11, 1950. They made their home and raised their seven children, Michael, Judy, Ronald, Patricia, James, Fred, and John, on several different farms in Decatur County, Iowa east of Leon.

Over the years Gladys helped Miles on the farm but mostly was a homemaker for her family. When the kids were older, Gladys worked at the Auditor’s Office in the Decatur County Courthouse in Leon for 10-15 years. Miles was on the Board of Supervisors at the same time.

In her spare moments, Gladys enjoyed reading, sewing, and gardening. She and Miles enjoyed birdwatching hummingbirds and purple martins that frequented their yard and feeders. Gladys was a faithful and active member of St. Brendan Catholic Church in Leon.

Preceding her in death were her parents; granddaughter, Ashley Leeper; and all her siblings and their spouses, Marjorie Keller, Eddie and Ruth Keller, Bob and Bev Keller, Mildred and Paul Bennett, and Melvin and Donnie Keller. Survivors include her husband, Miles Leeper of Leon, Iowa; children, Mike and Heidi Leeper of West Des Moines, Iowa, Judy and Jim Lane of Williamsburg, Iowa, Ron and Debbie Leeper of Des Moines, Patricia and Rick Grant of West Des Moines, Jim Leeper of Norwalk, Iowa, Fred and Michelle Leeper of Douglas, Kansas, and John and Maria Leeper of Independence, Missouri; grandchildren, Mike, Beth, Greg, Sarah, Amy, Cindy, Ryan, Katie, Nicole, Moriah, Natalie, Lynn, Madison, Caroline, and Emily; and great grandchildren, Michael Leroy, Kane, Kelsey, Abigail, Carson, Cameron, Gracee, Anna, Tommy, Bridget, Evangelina, Finn, Zoey, Jacob, Jude, Tatum, Henry, Logan, and June; many nieces and nephews; and other relatives and friends.

Funeral services will be held at St. Brendan Catholic Church in Leon, Iowa at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, October 8, 2024. Burial will be in the Leon Cemetery at a later date. Visitation will be at the Slade - O’Donnell Funeral Home in Leon on Monday with family receiving friends 5 - 7 p.m.

Memorial Fund to St. Brendan Catholic Church, Leon, Iowa.