LESLEY RYAN
On September 30, 1969 at 10:28 PM the world was changed when Lesley Rene Ryan was born to Danny and Dee Ann Ryan. She was born at Holy Rosary Medical Center in Ontario, Oregon. She lived in various parts of Oregon while her father worked for the highway department before relocating to Superior, Nebraska where her mother, Dee Ann, re-married.
Lesley lived in Superior until she graduated high school in December of 1986 and went on to college at Cloud Community College in Kansas. She then re-located after graduating with her Associates Degree in travel and tourism, to Omaha, Nebraska. There she was employed with Budget Rent-a-Car at the airport. She always had fond memories of that time in her life. She moved back home and worked as a nursing and medication aid at Good Samaritan Center in Nelson, Nebraska. It was there she met her former husband and father of her three children, Wade Towne. They were married Valentine’s day of 1992. To this marriage were born her three beautiful children, whom she loved dearly: Canyon, River and Timber.
Whenever she spoke of her children she lit up with joy. They were her world. Lesley and Wade divorced in 2007. She then raised her three children while working for several years as a waitress at Darling’s Café in Auburn. During those years she also served as the Mayor of Peru from 2008-2012. She deeply cherished those years and all the people she met there. In 2016, the café closed. Lesley then began working at Lorton Lounge and Project Response. The work she did at Project Response will be remembered for years to come.
After a sudden illness while visiting her mother, Lesley died at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho on September 7, 2019. She was 23 days away from her 50th birthday. Lesley is preceded in death by her former husband Wade, step-father Victor, step-brother Greg, one grandson and her grandparents.
Survivors are her children Canyon (Chelsi) Towne, River Towne and girlfriend Skye, and Timber Towne and her fiance Michael Huynh; her soulmate Daren Johnson; her parents Dee Ann Knoell Takao and Danny Ryan; her siblings Eric Ryan, Paula(Mark) Davis, Scott(Angie) Takao, Jeff(Lora) Hutchinson, and Julie Corbett; her nieces and nephews Ryan Fisk, Ben Fisk, Austin Davis, Andrew Davis, Nicole and Trevor Takao, Meisha, Mallory, Brady, Zach and Wendy; as well as many other relatives and many friends.
A memorial service was held Saturday, September 28, at Hemmingsen Funeral Home in Auburn, officiated by Pastors Nate Powell and Ken Fairbrother. Honorary bearers were Canyon Towne, River Towne, Timber Towne, Daren Johnson, Eric Ryan, Paula Davis, Scott Takao, Jeff Hutchinson, Julie Corbett, Jeni and Nathan Seitz, Alex Coatney, and Christine Musich.
Services were entrusted to Hemmingsen Funeral Home of Auburn.