Leah Bartlett Daggett, 93, of Bartels Lutheran Retirement Community in Waverly, formerly of Waterloo, died at the Waverly Health Center on Thursday, April 5, 2007.

Born into a Catholic family in Waterville, Maine, Leah was the daughter of John Milliard Bartlett and Mary Ann Cayouette. She was christened Leah Elizabeth Bartlett, grew up in Waterville, and graduated from Waterville High School in 1931. Leah married Horace Purinton Daggett on November 17, 1939, in Waterville. Her husband, Horace, was a well-known Waterloo area organist and owner of the Daggett Organ Company. He died on June 26,1969.

Leah’s interests were many and varied. She lived, went to school, and worked in many places. Her life was a fascinating journey.

After high school, Leah went to nursing school at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City and studied for two years at Colby College, a private college in Waterville, Maine. Once her children had grown, Leah went back to school, and graduated from Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa) in Cedar Falls, Iowa, with a BA in Fine Arts and a teaching certificate. She practices and perfected her art over the remaining years of her life and is known as an accomplished watercolor and oil painter and potter.

Leah’s teaching career and love of children offered her a wide variety of

opportunities and adventures. She taught elementary grades and art in many environments including a Catholic school, an urban and a rural public school.

Her love of art led her to teach watercolor painting classes at the Waterloo Recreation Center. She was a soprano soloist and sang in many venues, was involved with the Waterloo Community Playhouse (with a starring role in Blythe Spirit in 1956), took correspondence courses in writing from the University of Iowa, authored a book of poetry, and wrote music reviews for the Waterloo Daily Courier. After her husband died in 1969, Leah worked as a Dean of Students at Mooseheart, Illinois. Leah was baptized and served two temple missions for the Mormon Church, one in Washington, D.C. and another in Chicago. IL. Before retiring, Leah taught school on the Blackfoot and Uintah Indian Reservations in Idaho and Utah.

She spent her retirement enjoying sewing, knitting, classical music, reading, and working in her church. Leah loved dogs, especially Labrador Retrievers.

She is survived by daughter Jeanne (Jack) Daggett-Kemp, Waterloo, IA; son John (Carrie) Daggett, Fort Collins, CO; daughter Jo Ann (Mark) Hamer, Baileyville, IL; 9 grandchildren: Tamara Jo (Paul) Mitchell, Jeffrey Alan (Chris), Gregory Thomas (Kris), and Megan Kathleen Kemp; Maria Liesl and Eric Noel Landes; Ryan Daggett, Leslie Ann, and Christopher John Hamer; 13 great grandchildren: Emma and William Mitchell; Kenny, Jon, and Katie Kemp; Hannah, Maddie, and Ella Kemp; and Todd, Jr., and Jaden Keller; Keena, Derek, and Zachary Oxley. Leah was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, infant son Joshua, and brother Donald Bartlett.

She will be missed and remembered as a loving mother, grandmother, artist, and lifelong learner.