Leeza R. Phinney

Leeza R. Phinney, 60, of Ventura, died Sunday, May 22, 2016 at Mercy Medical Center – North Iowa in Mason City.

  Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m., Wednesday, May 25, at St. Paul Lutheran Church, in Garner, Iowa, with the Rev. Scott Kozisek officiating.  Burial will be at Memorial Park Cemetery, in Mason City.

  Visitation will be held one hour prior to services at the church.

Leeza Rae Phinney, the daughter of Ronald and Wilma (Hyde) Knop, was born Nov. 25, 1955, in Mason City.  She graduated from Ventura High School in 1974.  Leeza continued her education at NIACC, in Mason City, where she played basketball and participated in the women’s national basketball tournament.  After NIACC, she attended Winona State University.  On June 10, 1978 she was married to Douglas Phinney at St. Paul Lutheran Church, in Garner.  They lived in Clear Lake until 1992 when they moved to Ventura.

Leeza began her career as a certified nursing assistant at Concord Care Center, in Garner.  She later worked at Oakwood Care Center, in Clear Lake, before returning to Concord Care Center where she was currently employed.  Leeza loved her family and those she had a privilege to care for.

She was never without a smile and her famous bear hug.  Leeza will be missed by her husband, sons, her family, her work family and residents.

  She was a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church, in Garner, St. Paul LWML and the Activity Directors of North Iowa.

  Leeza is survived by her husband, Doug, of Ventura; two sons, Justin and Brandon Phinney; her mother, Wilma Knop, of Ventura; three siblings, J. (Terri) Knop, of Bastrop, Texas, Mona (Robert) Mims, of Medina, Ohio, and Lee Knop, of Sioux City, Iowa; two brothers-in-law, Don (Sue) Phinney, of Clear Lake, and Dean (Teresa) Phinney, of Iowa City; and many nieces, nephews, cousins and other family.

  She was preceded in death by her father, Ronald in 2005; maternal grandparents, Lynn and Vera Hyde; and paternal grandparents, Julius and Emma Knop.

  Cataldo Funeral Home, in Garner, is in charge of arrangements.