AUGUSTA – Leona Mae Hinkley Reynolds, 92, passed away Saturday, Nov. 27, 2021 at Maine Veterans’ Homes. She was born in Richmond, June 28, 1929, the daughter of Horace and Alice Bodge Hinkley. She graduated from Richmond High School in 1946 and worked at the Bureau of Health and Department of Agriculture for the State of Maine. She married Chester Louis Reynolds on November 22, 1947 at the Richmond Methodist Church. In September of 1970, she and Chet bought a store in South Gardiner and named it ” Chet and Leona’s Market.” Upon Chet’s death in 1994, their son Peter resumed operation of the store with Leona and worked there until he and his wife Terri sold it in June of 2009. Leona worked at the store for 39 years, retiring at age 80. Leona was a member of the Randolph United Methodist Church since 1952, where she baked her famous beans for church suppers for many years. She was predeceased by her husband; and three sons Chester Jr. in 1952, Paul in 2003 and G. Peter in 2010; mother and father; sister Helen and her husband Albert May, two brothers Horace Hinkley and his wife Marlene, and Clyde Hinkley, two brothers-in-law Wayne Knight, Dana Sullivan and Norman Reynolds, and sister and brother-in-law Clara and Clinton “Bud” Brackett. She is survived by two daughters Pamela Reynolds and her wife Karen Staggs of Readfield, Diane and her husband Gerald Witt of Deming, Wash., and daughter-in-law Terri Reynolds of So. Gardiner; two sisters, Charlotte Sullivan and Carolyn Knight, and sister-in-law Mary Hinkley, all of Richmond, sister and brother-in-law Judy and Don Watterson of No. Berwick, and sister-in-law Patricia Reynolds of Virginia; grandchildren Lianna and her husband Steven King of San Antonio, Texas, Stacey and her husband Luka Durosinovic of Austin, Texas, Aaron and his wife Meredith Reynolds of Richardson, Texas, and Zoe Witt of Seattle, Wash.; great-grandchildren Leona Rebecca King, Lydia Regina King, Layne Anthony Durosinovic, Marlowe Reynolds, Mila Durosinovic, and Henry Reynolds. Many thanks to sister Charlotte and husband Dana Sullivan for their many wonderful trips to North Conway and Bar Harbor with sister Carolyn and sister-in-law Marlene. Special thanks to my daughters, daughter-in-law, neighbors Lorna and Larry Veilleux, and Karen and Ken Billips. A very special thanks to my friend Jean Parkin-Clunie and to all my old friends from So. Gardiner. Funeral services and burial will be held in the spring. Burial will be in the family lot at Oak Grove Cemetery, Gardiner. Arrangements are by Staples Funeral Home, 53 Brunswick Ave., Gardiner, where condolences, memories and photos may be shared with the family on the obituary page of the funeral home website familyfirstfuneralhomes.com
In lieu of flowers,

donations may be make to:

Maine Veterans’ Homes https://mainevets.org/donate-to-maine-veterans-homes-2/ or to:

Androscoggin Home Health Care and Hospice https://androscoggin.org/

Copy the Story Link