Leona Sandbulte

Leona Sandbulte, age 98, died on Monday, February 2, 2026, at the Hospice Cottage in Luverne. She was born on May 16, 1927 near Rock Rapids, Iowa, to Will and Anna (Valentine) DeBoer. When she was young, she moved to Wisconsin and lived there a few years. She then moved with the family back to Rock Rapids and eventually to Carmel, Iowa. She met and dated Bernard before he was drafted into the Army and after he was honorably discharged in November 1945, they were married on December 12, 1945. They started farming at Maurice, Iowa and after five years, they moved to Boyden, Iowa where they lived for five years. They purchased a farm near Luverne where they lived and farmed until their retirement in 1988. In 2009 she moved into the Oaks when Bernard went to a nursing home. In 2019, she moved into the Mary Jane Brown Home in Luverne where she resided until Monday, January 26, 2026 when she was moved to the Hospice Cottage.

Leona was a charter member of the American Reformed Church in Luverne where she was also a Sunday School teacher and a member of the Rebecca Circle. She enjoyed crocheting and made many doilies for her family. She and Bernard would play scrabble after they retired from farming. 

She loved to have family come and visit.Leona is survived by daughters, Judy (Harlan) Van Meeteren, Myrna Hoogland, Lynda (Ron) Van Ruler; sons, Henry (Virginia), Willis (Barb), Gerald (Charla) and Warren (Carol); 19 grandchildren; 46 great-grandchildren; and six great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Bernard; twin daughters, Janet and Janice; brothers, Peter and John; sisters, Wilmina, Joanne, and Lois; son-in-law, Albert Hoogland; grandson, Brett Van Ruler; and two granddaughters, Ranae Sandbulte and Tammy Watson.