Leona K. Dittman

Leona K. Dittman, age 89, of Madison, died Monday, January 17, 2022, at Madison Regional Health System. Per her request, no funeral or memorial services will be held.

Leona was born to Leonard and Bessie Glass in Hettinger, ND, on March 18, 1932.  Her childhood years were spent living in the country by Lodgepole, SD.

She loved her parents, her big brother Edwin, and the country one-room school she attended.  She spent Jr. High (7-8) in Hettinger and then in 1945 moved to Faith, SD with her parents where she graduated from Faith High School in 1949.

Leona loved her children and was active and supportive in their lives and their sports.  She also loved fishing, her dog Bonnie, riding her “big blue” horse, the Minnesota Vikings football team and NASCAR (she was an avid Carl Edwards fan).

In her earlier years, she worked as a nurse and a doctor’s assistant for 12 years while holding other part-time jobs to help support her family.  At one time, she held a full time job and four part-time jobs, plus worked as a ranch wife and mother of three children.

At 62 years of age, she quit her hospital job and went to truck driving school in Oregon.  This was something always in the back of her mind to do.  To drive “a Big Rig” and see the country.  She began driving truck for Marten Transport in 1995 and drove for them for over 15 years.  She received many awards for her driving performance including the milestone “Million Mile Accident Free Award”.  The only state she did not visit in her trucking years was Maine.

She is survived by her three children, Judy, Madison, SD, Jeff (Dawn), Sioux Falls, SD, and Jerry, Black River Falls, WI.  Her two grandchildren, Taylor Lynn Dittman, Albany, OR and Taylor Marie Dittman, Sioux Falls, SD; two nephews, Jack Glass, Rockwell, TX and Darrel Glass, Las Vegas, NV, and one niece Marlene (Ken) Thomson, Rapid City, SD, as well as a very special great nephew J.L. Glass of Minneapolis, MN., and many great nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, brother Edwin and sister Alice Day.

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