Leota Mae Eastham was born on April 30, 1922 to George and Emele (Redelsperger) Kliewer at Shattuck, Oklahoma and died Monday morning, June 29th while residing in the Shattuck Care Center. Leota was raised on the Kliewer farm a few miles NW of Arnett. She attended elementary school at the Lone Star School NW of Arnett. She continued school in Arnett, graduating from Arnett High School in 1939. Leota served her country by working for Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in Burbank, California from August 1942 to March of 1947 while living in a residence in Glendale, California. During this time she was married to PFC Claude Eastham on June 17, 1944 at the parsonage of the Baptist Church in Shattuck, Oklahoma. After Claude finished his military service they lived briefly in Burbank, then returned to Oklahoma, living a few years in Shattuck before moving back to Arnett on farm land they purchased south of Arnett in the early 1950's. In 1975 they moved again to a new home in Arnett where they resided the rest of their life. Leota held numerous clerical jobs over the years including Arnett School Secretary, Ellis County Deputy Treasurer and finally working with her husband Claude at the Grain Elevator in Gage and then at Arnett until their retirement. Her favorite hobby was painting, in which she became an accomplished amateur. She completed numerous paintings of rural scenes of Oklahoma, including many with quail and turkeys, as well as the typical barns, horses, and windmills. Numerous relatives and friends have one or more of Leota's paintings hanging in their house. Leota was baptized into the Christian faith at the First Baptist Church of Arnett where she was a member. She attended both worship and Bible study there. She was known for her humor, her love of fine clothing from the Arnett Style Shop and her vivaciousness. Though she often demanded much she also gave much. Leota was preceded in death by her parents, George and Emele her step-mother, Clara Appel Kliewer, her brother Clarence George Kliewer, and her sisters, Louise Asphaugh, Ida Tubb, Tilda Juergenson, her husband, Claude, and her in-laws, John and Nellie Eastham. She leaves to mourn her sister Clara Hahn, numerous nephews, nieces, grand nephews and grand nieces, as well as many friends, neighbors, and special people in her life who were like family to her and Claude.