A memorial to Leta Bell Dotson Malcom

Hi neighbors. We all lose someone dear to us in our life times. Most of us lose several people close to us by blood, marriage or deep friendship. Each of them was special to us, not simply for what they did, but for who they were.

My son called me late Wednesday night to tell me his grandmother had died at the Nevada Regional Medical Center. In many ways she was an extraordinary woman. Like many people who never make national headlines, the general public is never privileged to know just how special they were.

Let me tell you a little about Leta Bell Dotson Malcom.

I have known her since 1970, when I married her eldest son. But I have discovered it has taken me all these years to even begin to know the depths of character and strength this kind and wise woman portrayed.

Leta was a staunch Christian. She was a poet and a talented singer, and she merged these two talents into her celebration of her faith. She attended church and sang with others at local nursing homes as long as her health allowed. She taught Sunday school for years.

She was a good mother to her many children. A different set of parenting skills emerged when she became a grandmother.

She was quietly persistent. She taught herself to play the organ. She could play the guitar and reminisced about her and her brother, father and uncle making music while riding in a train boxcar. She said her father called it a boxcar hotel. Music was always a big part of her enjoyment of life and she passed this passion for music on to her children and grandchildren.

She found herself without parents when very young and she and her brother went to live with her grandparents. She always talked about this time when living with her grandparents as being a happy time in her life.

She met and married Asa Malcom. When he went off to fight in World War II, she and her two oldest children moved to Kansas to live in a military barracks where the children were cared for by others while she worked in a munitions plant making gun powder.

When the war was over she and her husband moved to Metz, and bought a farm.

That was their home for several years before they moved to Nevada.

Leta enjoyed gardening and canning. She liked growing flowers and always had a beautiful flower bed or two -- and roses growing on the sides of her porch.

She enjoyed time with her children and grandchildren and held holiday diners for years.

She was an expert seamstress and made many pieces of clothing for her family. She worked at Nelly Don's for several years.

She also worked at the Nevada State Hospital for many years and retired from there.

I remember she was always doing something: painting her porch, wall papering her house, planting or working in her annual vegetable garden, and in the fall canning vegetables and fruits. I remember her as always, always being productive and steadfast with a quiet dedication to making each day important. With happy optimism she insisted each thing she did must be done to the very best of her ability.

There was no "half-way is good enough" thought to anything Leta did -- or felt. She worked, lived and loved with a passion for perfection that all who met her could feel.

Many things could be said of her -- all complimentary. I have never heard one word against her or a single discouraging comment about her in all the years I have known her.

For the last few years she has endured a lot of physical pain; but the last time I saw her she was laughing, happy to share her time, her memories, her wealth of wisdom, and her warm heart with all. Her smile was beautiful.

She was the best example of a truly good person I have ever known. I loved her and I will miss her. Rest in peace, Leta.