OBITUARY

Name:   Leona Patricia (Pygott) Vant

From:  The Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, Washington
Date:  March 25, 1999

Leona Patricia (Pygott) Vant, 71, of Bremerton died March 15, 1999, in a train accident near Bourbonnais, Ill.
 
She was born March 17, 1927, in Wenatchee to Sydney and Adah B. (Unger) Pygott. She grew up in Wenatchee and in Bremerton, graduating from Bremerton High School in 1945.

She was briefly employed in the sheetmetal shop at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard as a helper after World War II. Later she worked at Merit Mart (now Eagle Hardware) in East Bremerton for eight years.

She was a member of Merry Menders, a group of volunteers who mend clothing for nursing home patients.

She married Vergil A. Vant on Feb. 26, 1944, in Bremerton. Her husband and daughter, Wendy Lorraine Vant, died with her in the accident.

Survivors include a son, John of Port Orchard; five daughters, Valerie Hinkle of Burlington, Robbyn Handel of Bremerton, Virginia Vant of Bremerton, Melissa Flowers of St. Marys, Ga., and Rebecca Phillips of Gig Harbor; two sisters, Hazel Jordan and Virginia Hartley, both of Wenatchee; 18 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by two brothers, Stan and Syd.

A memorial service will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Gabriel Catholic Church in Port Orchard. Arrangements are under the direction of Pendleton-Gilchrist Funeral Home at Rill Chapel.

Memorials may be made to the American Red Cross, 605 Washington Ave., Bremerton, WA 98337 or to any hospice of the donor's choice.