In Memory
Kathleen Coonfer
We are
saddened to announce the passing of Kathleen Louise Coonfer on Friday, November
17, 2023.
Kathy
was born in Toronto, Ontario, on September 20, 1952, to David and Shirley
Espey. At the age of 7, her family moved to Calgary where she lived until she
graduated from William Aberhart High School. She moved to Olds to attend Olds
College, where she met her first husband. Her children were born in Olds, Jeff
Leedahl in 1972 and Shari Leedahl in 1974. The family of four, moved from Olds
to Hanna in 1975, then Sundre in 1978.
Kathy
moved to Olds in 1983 with her children, where she later met and married her
best friend, Cliff Coonfer. She and Cliff stayed in Olds until her passing.
They did some traveling to warmer climates, however the highlight of their
travelling was their trip to Ireland to visit family and Kathy’s father’s
birthplace in Northern Ireland. While in Olds, Kathy held a variety of
administrative assistant jobs and finished her career as an Executive Assistant
at the Olds College with her retirement in 2013.
Kathy’s
love of horses was a constant throughout her life. Her love of riding, gymkhana
and barrel racing, was first fostered as a young girl at Simons Valley Ranch.
One of her best friends through those years was an appaloosa named Penny. Penny
was with Kathy during her rein as the Appaloosa Princess in 1971. Kathy was
also very fond of her memory of riding the Touchdown horse for the Calgary
Stampeders in 1971, when the Stamps won the Grey Cup in Vancouver.
When
Kathy met Cliff in 1984, they shared a love of their geriatric horses, with
Penny likely approving their marriage in 1985. Once becoming empty nesters,
Kathy and Cliff got back to their love of horses. First with quarter horses
with whom they enjoyed trail riding. They did some breeding but that venture
really took off when they got involved with Standardbreds in 2006. They bought
their first brood mare in 2009, and Kathy enjoyed her multiple trips to
Pedigree Camp in Charlottetown where she dove in to learning about mare and
stallion selection. Dungannon Standardbreds has foaled 35 foals over the past
14 years, and in 2022 they were awarded the Alberta Breeders Award of
Recognition. She and Cliff enjoyed watching the races to cheer on their “kids”.
As proud as she was of her opportunities to stand in the winner’s circle, her
favorite time was in the barn visiting her babies.
The only
thing that brought her more pride than her horses was her family including 4
grandchildren who she bragged of often. She will be missed as a loving,
supportive wife, mother, grandmother and friend.
Kathy is
lovingly remembered by her husband, Cliff Coonfer; daughter, Shari Leedahl
(Linus Clark); daughter-in-law, Jacquie Leedahl; grandchildren, Easton and
Elyssa Leedahl, Jaycee and Carlee Clark; numerous nieces, nephews, sisters
& brother-in-laws and cousins.
Kathy
was predeceased by her son, Jeff Leedahl; brother and sister-in-law, Al and Pat
Espey; father, David Espey; mother, Shirley Espey; mother-in-law, Jean Coonfer.
In lieu
of flowers, donations can be made to the Salvation Army
(www.salvationarmy.ca/donations) or Performance Standardbreds
(www.p-standardbreds.org/friends-of-ps)
A
memorial celebrating Kathy’s life will be held at Pomeroy Inn and Suites in
Olds, Alberta on Sunday, November 26, 2023, at 2pm.
Share a message or memory
Leslie Mackay and Ian McLeod
Joan (and Rob) Kennedy
Carri and (cousin) Wayne Hall
Garfield and Angela Shaw
We were looking over Kathy’s posts for the last month peppered with: Lots of humor,
Remembrance Day reflections and tributes to her dad and uncles that served in the war,
expressed pride in her “4 legged kids” and all their wins both at Century Downs and elsewhere as well as congratulations to their “circles”, many memories shared from years gone by, thoughts of “Scruffy”, meals and catch ups with family, oh how she loved being involved in all endeavors of her grandkids and, so many beautiful pictures of the first snowfall, and impact of the rising and setting suns over the ranch.
Kathy’s last two posts seemed to be most meaningful.
First, there was the picture of Cliff and her tribute to him as her great love and her rock and, finally, her beautiful post of her home, porch light illuminating the dark night and so many stars twinkling overhead. Someone said “Home is where the heart is”. We believe this was Kathy's way of saying goodbye and we will think about her every time we look skyward and see the twinkling stars
Each of us in our own way, will hold our memories close and keep Cliff, Shari, Jacquie and the grandkids in our thoughts during these most difficult days as they come to terms with the loss of an amazing wife, mother, grandmother, “cowgirl” and breeder of Standardbreds.
RIP dear cousin
Dr. Bob Wilson
Linda Hall
Kathy and I were co-workers for a number of years. Over that time we enjoyed sharing stories of our children during the ups and downs of their growing up years. Kathy often mentioned "The Look", Shari, and I understand that sometimes that was all it took for you and/or Jeff to tow the line. Unfortunately, I never did quite master that "look" on my four!
It is obvious that Kathy thought the world of her family and I'm sure you will have many memories to hold dear.