Leora Frei, longtime Potlatch area resident, passed away Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, at Bishop Place in Pullman. She was 67. A graveside service will be at 10:30 a.m., Friday, Dec. 27, at the Mendenhall Cemetery near Potlatch.
Leora was born Sept. 5, 1957, in Spokane to Ned and Blenda Dawson Henrichs. Her father was serving in the U.S. Air Force at the time so Leora moved a few times in her early childhood years. The family eventually settled in Moscow where Leora and her younger sister Gwen grew up. She graduated from Moscow High School in 1975. Leora attended Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston where she was taking bookkeeping classes. She worked for a while at the theater in Moscow and then for the Doctor’s Clinic where she truly began to hone her clerical skills.
Leora met Dennis Frei in Moscow and after dating for a time they married on Jan. 14, 1984, in Moscow. They started a family a short while later and moved into their home on Crane Creek near Potlatch. Leora kept busy as a homemaker and mother enjoying her time raising their three children. She would eventually go back to work at the Pullman Medical Clinic for Doctors Leff, Simpson and Perino. She later worked for many years as a bookkeeper in the Latah County Treasurer’s Office, the events coordinator for the City of Moscow, and then back to Latah County before retiring in 2016 due to health reasons.
Leora enjoyed camping with her family and huckleberry picking all over the region as well as several trips to the Oregon Coast. Always with an eye for a bargain she liked to go to thrift stores or yard sales in search of a special treasure or find. She was a talented seamstress and could sew many things without even following a pattern and she liked to paint. Leora’s favorite time of year was the Christmas season and she loved putting up a huge Christmas village that was inhabited by over 80 Santa Claus. She was always a willing participant if a volunteer was needed for help. She enjoyed helping others and she loved spending time with her grandchildren.
Leora was diagnosed in 2019 with a rare form of Parkinson’s Disease that robbed her of a long life but she was forever thankful for the fullness of the life that she lived. As her disease progressed, she eventually moved to Bishop Place in Pullman where she has lived for the past three years. She is survived by her husband Dennis at their home in Potlatch; her three children of whom she was so proud, Dani (Scott) Lynas, of Viola, Amanda (Andy) Spears, of Post Falls, and John (Kelly) Frei, of Princeton; five grandchildren, Barin, Livia, Lilly, Braxton and Jackson; her sister Gwen Henrichs, of Moscow, and Gwen’s son, Jason, also of Moscow, a very special nephew to Leora. She also leaves behind a large extended family on the Frei side. She was preceded in death by her parents.
Corbeill Funeral Home of Pullman is in charge of arrangements. The online guestbook is available at corbeillfuneralhomes.com.
