Leona May

Rebecca Firkins

2:46 PM (1 hour ago)

to me, Rebecca

Leona May was born on October 26, 1924, to Mabel Ricks Robertson and Sylvester W. Robertson in Rexburg, Idaho. She was the oldest of four children…brothers Neal and Gordon and sister Carol. After the family moved to Jackson her dad built the family home at the base of Snow King. To escape her responsibilities as the oldest child , she would climb the mountains surrounding Jackson and spend the day reading. As a teen she worked packaging butter at the Challenge creamery and making beds at a dude ranch. Leona met Glenn May in Jackson. They would spend time at Stone Drug sipping sodas in one of the back booths, or dancing at the Cowboy Bar. Leona and Glenn married in the Salt Lake Temple just before he was shipped out to fight the war in the Pacific. When he returned from the war Glenn worked as a ranch hand on the Porter Ranch. They were living in the little white house  on the ranch when Darryl and Rebecca were born. Eventually they ended up in Blackfoot Idaho where Glenn worked as a lineman for Bell Telephone and Leona worked as a long distance operator. In the 1960’s Leona also worked in a florist shop, where she learned to make the most amazing floral arrangements and wedding bouquets. When Glenn and Leona’s marriage started to
come apart, the family moved to Burbank California. Glenn left the family 2 months later and it was up to Leona to provide for the family. She had no furniture, no car and very little money…but she found a job working as a switchboard operator at a car dealership. She walked about 2 miles each direction, in heels, to work every day until she saved enough money to get a car. She was a quiet, proud woman and she never complained. She made sure her children were always safe, fed and happy. When Darryl wanted to go on a mission for the LDS church she found a sponsor to pay for it. She made all of Rebecca’s clothes too. Over time, Leona worked her way up to bookkeeper at the dealership…a position she held until she retired and moved back to Jackson. Retirement wasn’t all it was cracked up to be for Leona. She went back to work. This time as bookkeeper at Jackson State Bank…then Wells Fargo until she was eighty-five years old. Leona May passed away July 30th at St. John’s Living Center in Jackson Wyoming. She is  survived by her children Darryl May and Rebecca Firkins. Five grandchildren: Guy Wood, Matthew May, Laura Nelson, Erin Larsen and Katie Fenske. And seventeen great grandchildren.

Graveside services were held on Tuesday, August 3, 2021 at the Aspen Hill Cemetery in Jackson.