Doris Leifeste Obituary

Doris JoAnn Leifeste went home to her Lord on Sunday, July 27, 2025, just twelve days shy of her 90th birthday. Born on August 8, 1935, in Aberdeen, Maryland, to Miller Dunbar Snapp and Ruby Frazier Snapp, JoAnn grew up in Maryland and spent cherished time in Hershey, Pennsylvania, with her beloved aunts, Nora and Lillie, who had a profound impact on her life. She loved school, friends, and sports.

In her early twenties, JoAnn moved to Austin, Texas, to be closer to her father. While attending college and working at the U.S. Geological Survey, she met Don Leifeste, a Hydrologist. They married in 1959 at First United Methodist Church in Gonzales, Texas. Together, they raised three children in Austin and later moved to northern Virginia, Atlanta, and Iowa City, eventually returning to Gonzales for retirement.

Throughout her life, JoAnn was devoted to her faith, her church, her community, and her family. She served in countless ways: She prepared care packages for our service men and women serving overseas, helped with the Gonzales Youth Center project, started a recycling program in northern Virginia, helped with the Gonzales Museum cleaning project, participated in mission projects in their local communities & Mexico, and helped start a Methodist church in Russia. She advocated for new traffic signals, prepared meals for sick friends, supported our Veterans, including honoring those buried in the Monthalia Methodist Cemetery, participated in Friendship Force including a trip to Russia, volunteered with the Walk to Emmaus program for incarcerated women, ministered to those in the Gonzales jail, served in numerous areas in the churches they attended, and the list goes on. She was an inspiration of selfless giving.

She completed her college education with a BA from the University of Iowa in 1980, majoring in Political Science, minoring in Spanish. She was a lifelong learner, an avid reader, and a good friend of the Gonzales library. Later in life, she felt called to formal ministry. After becoming an ordained minister, she was appointed pastor of the Waelder and Thompsonville United Methodist Churches in June 1993, where she served faithfully for five years. She found joy in her service, supported by loving congregations, fellow pastors, and her steadfast partner, Don.

JoAnn is survived by her devoted children: David Leifeste (Julia) of Tulsa, OK, Carol Fowler (Jim), and Julie Walters (Bruce), both of the Atlanta area. She is also lovingly remembered by her seven grandchildren: Joanna, Sarah, Meg, Kate, Luke, Caroline, and Lauren; and five great-grandchildren: Preston, Tyler, Grayson, Elizabeth, and Emma. She is preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Don.

The family is profoundly grateful to the many friends and caregivers who supported her during her time in Gonzales.

To honor JoAnn's 90th birthday and a life well-lived, the family invites you to celebrate her at your local Dairy Queen and enjoy her favorite treat-a soft-serve vanilla cone-on Friday, August 8, 2025 (free at the Gonzales DQ) Share a story, offer a prayer – we appreciate you taking time to honor and remember her. Tag Doris Jo Ann Leifeste on Facebook!

If you would like to remember her through a donation, the family suggests Monthalia and Shiner Methodist Churches, where she worshipped and enjoyed many friendships.

A private family service will be held at a later date at the Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, GA, where she will join her beloved husband, Don. We will be singing: "Hymn of Promise," Because He Lives," "I'd Rather Have Jesus", and reading Malachi 3:10-12, The 23rd Psalm, and 1st Corinthians 13.

God bless you, dear friend of mine, there is no way in which I could address you with more sincerity of heart than just to say, "God bless you". My words could wish that all your cares would be a little lighter, and I could send you a greeting card to make your hours brighter. My lips could call good luck to you or whisper happy landing, and I could promise you the depth of faithful understanding. But I am sure no other thought or message would impress you as lovingly or lastingly as asking God to bless you. And so I say, God bless you, friend, in every good endeavor, and may His guiding grace be yours forever and ever. (James Metcalfe).

Friends may leave their condolences to the family by visiting www.seydlerhillfuneralhome.com. Arrangements are under the care and direction of Seydler-Hill Funeral Home.