Lena Leona Hecker

Gardening is hard work. It takes equal parts strength and tenderness to bring a seed to bloom. No one knew the secret heart of gardens better than Lena Leona Hecker. She was born in Rock Creek, Kansas on May 25, 1926: a spring baby for America's heartland. She grew up on a farm in a big family, cultivating her expertise on growing life from soil. She married her first and only love; Walter Gene Hecker in 1943. For seventy years she reaped and sowed their love.

They had five children: Virginia (husband Bernard), Gloria, Linda (husband Lonnie), Michael, and Bruce. She had eleven grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren. They are her surviving garden; more prized than her peonies, asters, and marigolds. She devoted her life to growing and nurturing her blossoming family and husband. She became a part of this earth, which she loved so much, on February 8, 2015 in Denver, Colorado.

Her family…her living garden, loved her dearly. She was our sun.

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