Lee McKenna

Lee McKenna, age 87, of Storm Lake, Iowa died March 11, 2015 in Storm Lake. Funeral Mass will be held Friday, March 20, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Storm Lake. Burial will follow in the St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery. Visitation will take place Thursday, March 19, 2015 from 5-7:00 p.m. with a vigil service at 7:00 p.m. all at the Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements. Leatrice (Lee) McKenna was born on February 10, 1928 on a farm near Deloit to Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Spahn. She spent her younger years in Arthur and Odebolt and moved to Storm Lake in 1943 with her parents and younger brother. Lee attended public school and graduated in 1946. She attended Buena Vista College and was affiliated with Phi Alpha Pi sorority, Sigma Tau Delta and Alpha Psi Omega. While attending BVC, Lee was active in dramatics, served as president of Phi Alpha Pi and was former president of Buena Vista College Alumni Association. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree and did graduate work at the University of Iowa in Iowa City and Iowa State College in Ames. While working for Iowa State’s television station, Lee interviewed Soviet Leader, Nikita Khrushchev. Lee also taught English and dramatics at Gillett Grove and Rembrandt High Schools. For thirty-six years, Lee and her husband, Ort, operated the Luggage and Gift Shop, formerly located on Lake Avenue in Storm Lake, Iowa and Crafts of the Nation, a Wholesale gift business. During that time, they took a selling trip as far south as Brownsville, Texas once a year. While on the way down they opened up new accounts for the wholesale business. Lee hosted the “Homemaker Harmony Show” on KAYL for twenty years. She also organized and narrated style shows in Storm Lake, Iowa and Florence Garden, Arizona. She and Ort attended President Dwight Eisenhower’s funeral in Abilene, Arkansas as representatives for KAYL. She also reported events of the funeral on the air for the radio station. Lee also narrated parades on KAYL for Buena Vista College homecomings. She was a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church. Survivors include her brother Merv and his wife, Charlotte of La Mesa, CA; niece Charlama Chaffee, her husband Cameron and their children Kaylianne and Jonathon of San Diego, CA; niece Tamara Schwartz and her children Taran, Kellen and Gweneth of Newberg, OR; and nephew Troyon Spahn and his wife Dawn of Newberg, OR. Survivors also include extended family Yolene Fekel and her husband Richard, formerly of Storm Lake, IA now living in Rochester, MI; granddaughter Jocelyn Zelasko and her husband John of Rochester, MI; grandson David Fekel, his wife Katie and their children Luke and Evelyn of Capac, MI; brother-in-law George Sokolowski of Holstein, IA; sisters-in-law Mrs. Don McKenna (Zita) of West Des Moines and Mrs. Bernard McKenna (Kathleen) of San Jose, CA; plus twenty nephews and nieces. Lee was preceded in death by her husband Ort; parents Arthur and Wanda Spahn of Storm Lake, IA; sisters-in-law Bernadine Belson and her husband Marian Belson of Galva, IA and Mary Lorna Sokolowski of Holstein, IA; brothers-in-law Donald McKenna of Seattle, WA, Robert McKenna and his wife Bonnie of Seattle, WA, Bernard (Cody) McKenna of San Jose, CA and Raphael McKenna and his wife Elaine of San Rosa, CA; and her nephew Robert Belson of Holstein, IA.

Lee McKenna

February 10, 1928 - March 11, 2015