Letha Tobler

An accomplished pianist, Letha Leone Tobler’s love of life and music didn’t come to an end with her death. Letha passed away on February 5th, 2021 in her home after a long and courageous battle with Parkinson’s disease. She was 87 years old.

Letha was born August 2, 1933 in Oak Hill, Kansas to James and Sadie Trumble. The fifth of their six children, she grew up helping on the self-sustaining family farm. Letha attended Pleasant Valley School, a one room schoolhouse near the farm, Longford Rural High School and finally the Brown Mackie Business College.

After graduation, she moved to Topeka to work as a secretary at a law firm. Attending services at Evangelical United Brethren Church, she met her future husband Leroy Tobler. They were wed in 1955 and welcomed their first child exactly one year later on the same date. The family of five was complete with the addition of two boys after their move to Colorado.

Letha’s love of music began early in life: she played drums in the high school band, she sang in the Mixed Chorus, was a member of the Glee Club and participated in many school plays. She played the organ in the same church she was married in and went on to teach all three of their children to play a variety of musical instruments, including the marimba. However, her main love was the piano, at which she greatly excelled. She devoted many hours of practice learning difficult songs and memorizing her favorite pieces. She hosted piano concerts in their home and often played duets with a close friend. They even played in a concert hosted by the Denver Symphony Orchestra.

Letha is survived by her husband of 65 years, Leroy Tobler; her daughter, Michelle Atkins (John); her son, Michael (Megan); 6 grandchildren: Aimee, Erin, Brian (Rapp), Emily, Alexandra and Anne Marie (Tobler); and 5 great-grandchildren: Fox, Joaquin, Kiva, Layla and Xavier; as well as her sister, Georgie Dierking and many nieces and nephews. Letha was preceded in death by her son Mark and his wife Marianne of Morristown NJ, her oldest brother James (Bud) Trumble, and older sisters Edna (Sissy) Nash, Francis (Frankie) Richter, Dorothy (Dottie) Kissling, all of Kansas.

Letha will be laid to rest near her parents at Rose Meron Cemetery in Oak Hill Kansas. The burial and memorial service will take place Spring of 2021. In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made to the Parkinson Association of the Rockies. Www.parkinsonrockies.org