Leah Carolyn Vogel was born on December 22, 1939 in New Orleans, Louisiana. She passed away in her much-loved apartment at Montereau on Friday, September 25. She was 86.

The daughter of Walter Emil Vogel - a traveling salesman for the Hobart Company and LaDora Brazeale Vogel, a registered nurse - Leah, too, was a nurse, a lover of music and the arts, avid sports fan, world traveler, community volunteer, and above all, a cherished mother and grandmother. Her family moved to Michigan for a few years and then settled in Tulsa in 1946, her father having been transferred. It was around this time that Leah took up the violin and piano, following a love of music she traced back to her father's family. She played the piano for most of her life, especially Beethoven. She made much of the fact that her father had come from a Jewish background and her mother, from Southern Baptists, and often remarked on their work ethic and devotion to each other.

She graduated from Central High School in 1957 and married her high school sweetheart, Michael Eckenwiler, in April of 1960. While the marriage did not last, the couple had two children, Mark and Lisa. She was an exemplar of the devoted, supportive, resourceful mother.

Leah attended the University of Tulsa from 1957-1958, where she became a member of the Delta Gamma sorority, an affiliation she valued throughout her life. She transferred to the University of Arkansas College of Nursing in Little Rock, graduating Cum Laude in 1961. She was awarded the Vera Juhre Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement in 1959. She returned to school and attained her Masters of Science in Nursing, with Honors, from the University of Central Arkansas in 1976. There she was given the Faculty Graduate Award and Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement in Graduate Studies in 1977 and inducted into Sigma Theta Tau, the International Honor Society of Nursing. Always a student, she took other classes through the 1990s at the University Center at Tulsa.

While she held clinical posts in Stillwater, Oklahoma City, at St. John's in Tulsa, and even a stint as a public health nurse in Cleveland, County, OK, much of her professional life was spent at St. Francis Hospital. She served many roles there including staff nurse, clinical specialist in medical-surgical nursing, and nursing instructor. She also coordinated clinical placements for Tulsa-area nursing students, was responsible for orienting new LPNs and RNs and continuing education for RNs, and served as advisor to the newly arriving nuns from the Mother House. Leah also managed an occupational health clinic for bus drivers working with Tulsa Public Schools from 1991-2003. Throughout, she had a reputation for being fierce in her protection of patients. She also took great pride in her position as Clinical Assistant Professor for the OU School of Nursing in Tulsa, which she did from 1980-1996. She retired in 2003 after 42 years in nursing practice.

Even though it seemed as if she was always working, she made time for music and art, regularly attending the symphony, philharmonic, ballet, TU musical performances and visiting Philbrook. Her love of beauty was a hallmark of her character. But the thing she made the most time for was her family. She was at every school event, award ceremony, graduation, baptism, and more, always full of pride. In the last several years, visited her children and grandchildren in Washington, DC regularly.

Service to the Tulsa community was always important. She volunteered for the American Heart Association, Delta Gamma and Tulsa Alumnae Panhellenic, and for many years at Philbrook and the Tulsa Historical Society. She was honored with the Arts Alliance of Tulsa's Exceptional Volunteer Service Award in 2017 and a Delta Gamma Woman of the Year in 2018. She was a dedicated member of St. John's Episcopal Church for over 50 years and served in numerous volunteer roles there. Her favorite was being an usher for Sunday Evensong.

In her last few years, she reveled in more frequent visits with her family, and making the rounds to Philbrook, Swan Lake, and her favorite dining spots in Tulsa. She took particular pleasure in her grandson, Emmanuel, who delighted her with piano performances during visits. She was so proud that someone had picked up her family's love of music.

She is survived by her brother, Don Vogel (and his wife Julie), her two children, Mark and Lisa Eckenwiler, and her three grandchildren, Nicholas and Caleb (sons of Mark and his wife, Victoria Lord), and Emmanuel (son of Lisa and her husband, Thomas Prassa).

Memorial service will be held at St. John's Episcopal Church on Friday, November 6 at 1pm.

Fitzgerald Ivy Chapel, (918) 585-1151