Patricia Lesle, age 87 of Wall Lake, IA, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, December 10, 2024, at Twilight Acres Nursing Home in Wall Lake, with family at her side. Patricia Joyce Lundy was born on January 30, 1937, the youngest of five children born to parents Russell and Emma Marie (Klingson) Lundy in Fort Dodge, IA.
When she was five months old, the family moved from Fort Dodge to Churdan, IA, where her father had purchased the Square Deal Produce & Creamery Station. At age three, she was enrolled in the nursery class at the First Presbyterian Church where she was an active member through her high school years. Patricia loved singing and was a member of the church choir. She sang her first solo when she was in the seventh grade; it was her father’s favorite hymn “In The Garden”.
Patricia graduated from Churdan High School in 1954. She then attended Fort Dodge Junior College and obtained her Associate of Arts Degree in Education. She taught an ungraded classroom of twelve students at the Sedalia Missouri Crippled Children’s Center. From there she went on to teach at Paton-Churdan, Beaman-Conrad-Liscomb, and Conrad schools all in Iowa.
In August of 1956, Patricia married Donald Roadruck. This union was blessed with two children, Linda and Danny. They later divorced. On May 8, 1965, Patricia married her high school sweetheart, Kenneth Lesle. This union was also blessed with two children, Kurt and Constance. In the Fall of 1969, the family of six moved to Moline, IL, where Ken was employed at the D.R. Light Ad Agency. During this time, Patricia was a homemaker and offered private tutoring to students. In January of 1971, the family moved to Wall Lake. Patricia was employed as the manager of the Wall Lake Hotel. She also worked as the emergency operator for Farber & Otteman Funeral Home and Ambulance Service and helped Ken at his photography and art studio. Sadly, in 1973, Ken passed away. She then sold Avon for five years and made the “President’s Club” which was quite an achievement. In 1983, she began working as a Nurse Aid at Twilight Acres Nursing Home and was a news correspondent for the Wall Lake Chronicle, Lake View Resort, and Sac Sun newspapers. She worked at Twilight Acres for nineteen years before she retired in 2002.
Patricia was a faithful member of Peace Lutheran Church in Wall Lake where she participated in many groups and served on several committees over the years. She enjoyed bowling, reading, writing poetry, listening to music, singing, dancing, visiting with friends and most importantly, spending time with her beloved children and grandchildren. She was an animal lover who was especially fond of cats and dogs.
She was a strong, kind woman who was widowed at a young age leaving her to raise her four children alone. Pat never met a stranger. She had many friends and loved getting to know others and was good about keeping in touch with them all. She was a wonderful storyteller and told the best jokes. She enjoyed her trips to casinos and some of her favorite moments were bingo and going out to coffee with friends.
She will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved her. Survivors include her children, Dan Lesle, Linn (Randy) Scharn of Fonda, IA, and Connie (Marty) Burns of Audubon, IA; grandchildren: Angi Esser, Jesse Scharn, Jenny (Dylan)
Scharn-Wagener, Eric Scharn, Jacob Burns (Katilyn), and Amy Burns (fiancé Luke); great-grandchildren: Tate and Tessa Esser, Connor, Owen, and Natalie Scharn, Elliott and Isla Wagener; many nieces, nephews, cousins, other extended family members and friends.
Patricia was preceded in death by her husband, Ken Lesle; son Kurt Lesle; parents Russell and Marie Lundy; parents-in-law Bill and Florence Lesle; and siblings Bea (George) Lawler, Evelyn (Bob) Tassler, John (Verdell) Lundy, and Dale (Betty) Lundy.
