LeaAnn Voges Schwartz, age 72, passed away peacefully at her home in Huntley, Illinois, on Friday, March 22, 2019. She was with family and visited by dear friends while under the care of hospice.
LeaAnn was born on December 13, 1946, in Columbia, Missouri, to Willadean Virlea (Griffin) Voges and Bernard Herman Lee Voges. She grew up in Jefferson City, Missouri, raised her family in Moline, Illinois, and retired in Huntley, Illinois. She is a graduate of William Woods College and Drake University and completed post-graduate studies at the University of Iowa and National Louis University. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Chi Omega Sorority. She taught English and French and was mother to three children, “Gran” to seven grandchildren, and like a second mother to many.
LeaAnn had passions for travel, reading, genealogy, and tap dancing. She was a welcoming, enthusiastic, and supportive friend who loved spending time with others in many social and service groups: PTA, Moline Council for the Gifted, Make-A-Wish, Sun City Hoofers and Strutters Tap Dancers, German and French conversation groups, several book clubs and bunco groups, and many genealogical organizations. She also cherished the many friends she met through her Judi Dench and Castle fan clubs.
Above all else, she loved spending time with her children and grandchildren and sharing in their passions. LeaAnn was preceded in death by her beloved parents. Left to honor LeaAnn and remember her love are her children, Kevin (Christine) Schwartz, Eric (Jason) Schwartz-Johnson, and Alison (Rob) Womac; grandchildren, Caitlin, Jack, William, Nicholas, Henry, Kiersten, and Caleb; and beloved cousins and friends. She will be remembered for her positivity, kind heart, interest in others, sense of wonder, and zest for living.
Funeral services will be on Saturday, April 6, 2019, at 10:00 am, at the First Congregational Church of Dundee, 900 S. 8th Street, West Dundee, Illinois. Visitation will be on Friday, April 5, from 5:00-8:00 pm, at DeFiore Funeral Home in Huntley, Illinois. LeaAnn will be laid to rest by her parents and grandparents in the Huntsville City Cemetery in Huntsville, Missouri, on Monday, April 8, 2019 at 10:00am
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in LeaAnn’s name to the Missouri State Genealogical Association (MoSGA), P.O. Box 833, Columbia, MO 65205.
“The years may wipe out many things
But this they wipe out never,
The memory of those happy days,
When we were all together.”
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So many GREAT memories of Ann...her travels, studing family history and her love of her children, their spouses and grandchildren...we will truely miss you!❤
Have been and will be missing LeaAnn tremendously for a long, long time. So glad I saved the uplifting texts that she sent. She loved her Family so much, cannot fathom Your sorrows.
Lea Ann will always be remembered for her kind words and big heart. It was my honor to know her, and her smile will live on in my memories. Lea Ann lives on through her beautiful children and grandchildren.
We are praying that your many happy memories of her over the years will give you comfort and peace. She was a wonderful woman, full of warmth and kindness.
I am so sorry for your loss. LeaAnn was a wonderful and encouraging light to me and I could always count on her to say a kind word and spread a smile! She will be sorely missed by our group of Castle fans. Prayers to all of you.
I am another Castle fan whose life was touched by LeaAnn. I will miss her letters telling of her wonderful family, travels , and her life. She will be missed. Prayers and condolences to all of you.
LeaAnn was such a wonderful friend and a most interesting person. She was always there for her friends and will be greatly missed.
She was a beautiful lady...inside and out. She brought much joy and happiness to all who knew her. A wonderful neighbor.
Lea Ann was the sweetest, kindest person I have ever known. I’m grateful that she was my dear friend. Her positive view of life was inspirational and her laugh was contagious. I miss our hours together - both in person and by phone. Her love of her family came first but her love for friends followed close behind. The world is a sadder place without Lea Ann.
I will always cherish the years LeaAnn enriched my life--through activities, love of home and family, dance and laughter. She will be missed by so many!
My memories of Ann go back many years - mostly through genealogy - especially our two trips to Bethlehem , PA to learn translation of early German script and our fun times on the way there and back.
LeaAnn was such a wonderfully warm person. We were in tap class together and she always had lovey things to say. I wish I had known she was ill. Please accept my sympathy. Know your family is in my thoughts.
My sincere condolences to Kevin, Eric and Allison and their families. LeaAnn was an amazing woman and I have no doubt she will keeps us all under her wings. I will forever be grateful for her friendship and company while I lived in Huntley and beyond. She was a very good friend and I will miss her deeply.
I always enjoyed my interactions with LeaAnn. Whether it be at a George Mason Law School graduation for my brother or as she yelled hello in the background when I was speaking with him on the phone on a holiday. She was a very kind and happy person who raised wonderful children. The world will miss her but her legacy will live on through them and her grand children.