Leona Lee Walters passed away the morning of November 11, 2016, at the Maple Grove Assisted Living Community at Ashby Ponds.  She was born on February 22, 1924, in the city of Cumberland, Maryland.  She was 92 at the time of her death.

She graduated from Fort Hill High School in 1941.  While attending school she worked part-time at Rosenbaum's, a dress store.  After graduation, Leona worked 12-hour shifts for a military ammunitions contractor in Pinto, Maryland, where gunpowder was precisely weighed, placed into shells to be capped, then placed by hand into machine gun belts for use by our military.  In 1942, she began working at the Cumberland Cloak and Suit Store as a sales clerk.

She met her husband, James E. Walters, while he was on leave from military service in 1942.  Before being sent to England in 1943 as part of the pre-deployment of American troops to England, which led to the allied invasion of France, they wanted to get married, but Leona's mother asked them to wait until he returned from the war.  While in England, Jim sent Leona an engagement ring.  The ring was apparently lost at sea and never arrived, so he sent her a second ring that arrived late summer of 1943.

Jim was part of the second-day invasion force, and on the fourth day of the invasion, he was taken prisoner of war by the retreating German force near the French city of Saint-Lo, and was eventually held at a prisoner of war camp in eastern Germany near the Polish border.  He was liberated in early 1945 by the advancing Russian Army, and the Red Cross repatriated him on March 12, 1945.  During his captivity Leona attempted to write and send Red Cross care packages to Jim, but they were never received

Upon Jim's return to the United States, plans were rapidly made for their wedding on May 13, 1945.  After the ceremony they left immediately for Miami Beach, where returning POWs were being processed out of the Army.

They returned to Cumberland, Maryland, where Leona gave birth to her first son, Gary James, in 1946.  The couple moved to the Washington, D.C. area where her second son, Gregory Wayne, was born in 1951.

In 1952, Leona, Jim, and their two boys moved to Rockville, Maryland, where Leona worked at the Children's Center, a children's clothing store, until she retired in 1975.

After retiring, Leona and Jim moved to Florida, first to Orlando and eventually to Ocala. They moved to the Ashby Ponds Community of Ashburn, Virginia, in early 2011, where Leona became an avid member of the Ashby Ponds singing group known as the "Song Birds," who provide seasonal concerts and sing-a-longs for the Ashby Ponds Community.

Following Jim's death in 2015, she remained at Ashby Ponds with her many friends, and in August 2016, following a hospital visit due to complications from kidney dialysis, she moved into the assisted living community at Ashby Ponds known as Maple Grove.

A funeral service will be held on Wednesday, November 16, 2016, at the Colonial Funeral Home in Leesburg, Virginia, 201 Edwards Ferry Road NE, Leesburg, Virginia 20176. The gathering of family and friends will occur between 1:00 and 2:00 pm, with a remembrance ceremony beginning at 2 pm.

Final interment will occur early next year at Arlington National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Shriners Hospital for Children, 12502 USF Pine Drive, Tampa, FL 33612 or Saint Jude's Children Research Hospital, PO Box 1000 Dept 142, Memphis, TN 38101-9908.

A Memorial Service will be scheduled for a future date at Ashby Ponds.