Rochester Post-Bulletin
Rochester  MN
10/27/2008 
Section B page 2


Gale Ellis Leek - Blooming Prairie
BLOOMING PRAIRIE - The Mass of Christian Burial for Gale Ellis Leek will
be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. Columbanus Catholic Church in Blooming
Prairie, with the Rev. William Kulas officiating. Interment will be in
St. Columbanus Catholic Cemetery, with VFW Post 878 and American Legion
Post 52 providing military honors.

Mr. Leek, 90, of Blooming Prairie, died Friday (Oct. 24, 2008) at the
Prairie Manor Care Center.

Born with his twin brother, Garel, on May 14, 1918, on the family farm
near Burt, Iowa, he grew up in Kossuth County, Iowa. On July 1, 1941,
he enlisted in the Army, was deployed from Norfolk, Va., and served as
a supply sergeant in North Africa during World War II. Exactly three
years to the day, he returned from the war. He worked briefly at Abbott
Laboratory in Waukegan, Ill., before returning to Iowa to farm.

On Feb. 4, 1946, he married Martha Theresa Platt in Waukegan. They farmed
in the Whittemore, Iowa, area until 1948, when they moved to a farm south
of Blooming Prairie. They continued to live on the family farm until
moving to Blooming Prairie in January 1988. Mrs. Leek died Nov. 11, 1998.

Mr. Leek was a member of St. Columbanus Catholic Church and Blooming
Prairie VFW Post 878. He enjoyed baseball, bowling, cards, gardening,
hunting and fishing, but his passion was farming. He moved to the Prairie
Manor Care Center in December 2007.

He is survived by four daughters, Nancy (Jerry) Tsukamoto of Brisbane,
Calif., Kathleen Riscoe of Portland, Ore., Karen (Richard) Bisping of
Faribault, Minn., and Shelia (Keith) Leavell of St. Cloud, Minn. ; a son,
Richard (Jan) of Aloha, Ore.; 13 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren;
a brother, Chris (Helen) Olsen of Rochester; and a sister, Martha Luedtke
of Byron. Other survivors include a daughter-in-law, Ann (Doug) Bruggeman
of Blooming Prairie. He was preceded in death by his wife; a son, Bruce;
his parents, Albert and Nina (Foland) Leek; and two brothers, Garel
"Dutch" and Bill.

Visitation will be from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Worlein-Blooming
Prairie Funeral Home, and an hour before the service Wednesday at the
church. There will be a Parish Prayer service at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the
funeral home.