We are all saddened to hear of the tragic death of Leah Gavin, River Falls pharmacist and very truly a pillar of the community: an intelligent, warm and wise woman who embodied the creed of service to others.

I was surprised and honored to get a call from her son Ben asking if I would write this column about Leah. We do have some common history: Both of our ancestors were pioneers who strove to establish a city in Whitehall, 100 miles from here, where Leah’s father clerked in the local drug store and also served as a Boy Scout Master, trying to instill in all of us little hoodlums the same values that have impacted Leah’s impeccable character.

When her great-grandfather Samuel arrived from Broz, Holland, and worked milking cows for my great grandad, he was visited by Elder Squires, a Baptist evangelist who used acrobatics to try to convert the Dutchman. When he finished his last handstand down the manure bespattered alleyway, Speerstra delivered this reply: “Ja, ja, religion is yus’ fine in it’s place—as long as you don’t take it too seriously.”

Which only emphasizes, I believe, that Leah’s beneficence was all go and no show.

Here’s a story that shows how the Speerstra character shines through Leah’s public service: As the new century dawned, a young Peter Speerstra asked my great uncle Jim if he’d help him get his silo filled. Jim was busy as a carpenter but took time off to help out the young farmer. The silo filled, Peter asked what Jim wanted for pay. “Not a thing,” said Jim, “but sometime down the road when another young farmer is in trouble, remember this and help him out.”

Jim Wood found his chance to “Pay it Forward” when the Depression hit. My father had taken over his widowed mother-in-law’s farm, a herd of 20 Guernseys. But he had no bull. Dad worked with Pete Speerstra at the local creamery, and he knew that Pete had several young bulls for sale, so he asked Pete if he could purchase one “on time.”

Out on the Speerstra place dad examined several candidates. “Take your pick,” said Pete.

“How much for this one?” Dad asked.

Pete leaned into his pitchfork and told Dad about Uncle Jim and the free silo filling way back when. “So,” he said, “with 20 heifers and no bull, I’d say you’re a young farmer in a heap of trouble, and I’m glad to have the chance to pay back a good deed.”

Can you see how this story fits the bill of a tribute to the magnanimity of Leah Gavin? She who would take the time and effort to help anyone out who needed some help—like hand delivering prescription medications to clients who were homebound or just forgot to pick up their order before closing time.

I met for coffee with Leah and Ron’s sons: Ben and Tim, who agreed in the same voice that Leah more than fulfilled her duties as a mother, a businesswoman, a binder of family values, and a defender of traditions, without being a pain in the neck about her ideals.

“It’s hard to believe all that she did,” said son Tim. Ben added that she was there in all ways for the family, along with everyone she cared for in the community. Not one to relinquish any duties, she told Ben recently that he became a daytime baby-basket resident of the pharmacy when he was just two weeks old so mom could be both mother and pharmacist.

There were tears and smiles about her beloved grandchildren teaming up at the sewing machine or the lefse griddle to preserve longstanding family traditions including the Easter egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa’s that took place just last week.

Or Leah and Ron’s hunting for rare glass doorknobs for a home restoration project that seemed always to be in progress.

The boys concurred that their parents were a real team, often working side by side on projects like stripping and refinishing antique furniture or restoring and getting an old Model A Ford running.

So how does “paying it forward” work in Leah Gavin’s life? Despite the insult to the evangelist, Leah’s Uncle John became a Lutheran minister—i.e. another family member serving the flock.   And when RF’s old bookstore folded, Leah immediately became a bookseller, handling dozens of titles written by local authors.

And when it made sense to her, this remarkable woman determined to play it backwards. With her impeccable modesty and good sense, she kept the old name of Freeman’s and displayed many of its original furnishings, so one couldn’t forget its glorious old-fashioned history—including the improbable visit from President Kennedy in 1960.

Visitation and Celebration of Life for Leah will all occur at Ezekial Lutheran Church River Falls

Visitations are May 5, 4-8 p.m. and May 6, 10 a.m.-noon. The service will follow the May 6 visitation.

The full obituary can be found at https://bakken-young.com/leah-gavin-04-22-2025/