On March 9, 1925, Leora Fairbourn was born in what was then known as Crescent, Utah, on her family's farm. She was the oldest of Ora Whitmore and Alma Fairbourn's eight children, five daughters and three sons. Being the oldest required a lot of work, not only thinning beets on the farm, but also performing household chores and tending her younger siblings. For Le, living on a farm was hard work, but she had fun playing with neighboring cousins and getting into mischief.
Both she and her husband, Gordon Landgren, graduated from Jordan High School, and both were Beet Diggers- on the farm and at school.
Le married Gordon on June 3, 1946, after he returned from WWII where he served in the Navy. She worked as a teller in the Federal Reserve Bank in Salt Lake City while he attended the University of Utah.
The two of them lived in Salt Lake in their first home for four or five years before Gordon's work required them to move to Northern California. She spent the next thirty years moving around the Bay Area, to San Diego, and to LA with her family.
She had three children: Chal, the oldest son, Mary Ann, her daughter, and Robert, the youngest. While they were in school, she decided to finish her college degree. She graduated from Hayward State and began teaching elementary school. For twenty years, she taught fourth and fifth grades and loved being a teacher. Her students and fellow teachers loved her as well.
Following her teaching career, Le began doing Hug Seminars. She saw a need to get people hugging and making positive contact with one another. She was invited to travel to many places to give these lectures, and became affectionately known as "The Hug Lady."
After retirement, she and her husband moved to Oregon to be near their oldest son for a few years. Afterward they moved to St. George, Utah and later accepted a call to serve as missionaries in the Louisiana, Baton Rough Mission. They loved it.
Le and Gordon returned to Utah, where they lived for the next sixteen years. They had many, many friends and loved to play cards with them. Le was an excellent cook and always enjoyed entertaining friends and family.
Le was the proud grandparent of ten grandchildren and the proud great-grandparent of eight.
She always kept her extended family close, planning reunions and vacations. She loved the Church and was always an active participant. She spent many years in the service of others.
Her generosity will be remembered always.
A Viewing for Le will be held on Saturday, October 13, 2018 from the hours of9:30 am - 10:30 am followed by aservice at11:00 at Larkin Sunset Gardens, 1950 east Dimple Dell Road (10600 south) with interment immediately following.
