Peggy A. Leon

Peggy A. Leon, 89, of Rockford, IL, passed away on Saturday, December 26, 2020, of covid-related complications.

She joins her husband of 65 years Blase, who predeceased her by 5 weeks, also of covid-related complications.

She was born in Dubuque, Iowa, on March 25, 1931, daughter of Joseph F. and Margaret C. (Welsh) VanCura. She graduated from Muldoon High School and attended Marquette University. She became a radiologic technologist, working until her marriage. She married Dr. Blase M. Leon at Holy Hill, WI, on August 17, 1955. The couple began their married life in Stuttgart, Germany, where Dr. Leon served as a captain in the U.S. Army. During the two years they lived in Germany they traveled extensively throughout Europe. They returned to Rockford in 1957, where Peggy spent the next thirty years raising the couple’s five children. Peggy was a vivacious and social woman, always looking forward to her next adventure. She actively participated in the Dental Wives Club, the Catholic Women’s League, and two bridge clubs. She loved music; she played the piano and sent all her children to music lessons. She sang with the St. Bernadette's choir for 20 years. She traveled to New York to see Broadway musicals, frequently attended the Chicago Lyric Opera, and filled her house with music by her favorite performers. She loved traveling and took many trips to Mexico with Blase. She also loved art and architecture, covering her walls with her favorite pieces and dragging her sometimes unwilling children on excursions to see important architecture & gardens.

Surviving relatives include children Dr. Michele Shuman (Pottstown, PA), Michael and husband Todd (Los Angeles), Julie and husband Robert Cox (Atlanta), Dr. David and wife Beth (Denver), and Jayme (Portland, OR), sister Mary Elaine and husband Peter McNamee (Bloomington), grandchildren Charles, Jennifer, Ian, Laura, Alison, Jill, and Mark, and great-grandsons Elliott and Alex.

Walk-through visitation will be on Friday, January 8, 2021, from 3-5 pm at Fitzgerald Funeral Home, 3910 N. Rockton Ave. Celebration of the Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 am on Saturday, January 9, 2021, at St. Bernadette Roman Catholic Church. Those attending services must wear masks and follow social distancing guidelines. Burial will be in Calvary Catholic Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Bernadette's Parish 2400 Bell Avenue Rockford, IL 61103, or the Poor Clares Corpus Christi Monastery, 2111 S. Main Street Rockford, IL 61102

Arrangements have been entrusted to Fitzgerald Funeral Home & Crematory.