Sisters remembers Edith Leithauser

"She was the first person I met when we moved here, and wanted to know everything about me," said a 50-year resident of Sisters and friend of Edith Leithauser.

That was Edith's style. There was never a more friendly, happy, or interested person in Sisters history.

The character of Maude, in the 1970s cult movie "Harold and Maude" could have been inspired by Edith Leithauser. "You really like people, don't you, Maude?" asked Harold. Maude looked at him with an impish grin and responded, "They're my species." That was the philosophy of Edith.

Leithauser, a resident of Sisters for nearly 75 years, died on December 2. She and her husband, Pete, left an imposing heritage on what has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in Oregon.

Leithauser family influence has graced Sisters since 1911, when Pete's grandfather opened a barber shop on the corner of Fir Street and Cascade Avenue. In 1941, Edith and Pete acquired the Leithauser Grocery from his father, who had opened the market in the early 1920s in the former barber shop.

The Leithausers raised five children in the back of their grocery store, which eventually encompassed the current Sisters Bakery, Sisters Drug & Gift and Melvin's Fir Street Market, as both the family and the grocery expanded.

The couple had a profound effect on their Catholic faith, rodeo, and social life in Sisters Country.

The family attended St. Thomas Catholic Church in Redmond until they and other local Catholics influenced the church to build St. Edward the Martyr Catholic Church in Sisters. One of their sons was the first altar boy.

The church, first established on the corner of Larch and Cascade (across from the elementary school tennis courts), was moved to Trinity Way in the 1970s. At both locations, Edith traditionally sat in an aisle seat by which all parishioners passed after receiving communion. She had her reasons. From this vantage point, she was able to smile and greet every single church member every week for seven decades.

The thing about Edith, as anyone who knew her would tell you, is that she was always smiling, always interested in children and the status of families and sure to know where there was need and how she could help.

She was a natural, therefore, behind the counter of a grocery store, where she could converse with customers and keep up on local news. Every year, before school opened, she checked with the school district to learn what school supplies were needed so Leithauser Supermarket would have those supplies in stock, down to number of crayons in a box. There were always several sets of supplies stored in the backroom to quietly donate to children whose families were financially strapped.

"She was always so nice," recalled Ray Hennings, who was a regular shopper. "She always took time for everybody."

As a dedicated parent and volunteer, Edith was among the volunteers who passed out "sugar pills" of the first polio vaccine to Sisters youth. She was very proud to own the first automatic dishwasher in Sisters, declaring that her kids never go sick because she owned that machine.

"We had to wash every single dish before we could load the washer," said her daughter, Karen Marsh. "They were clean before they got there. Mom loved her dishwasher."

Possibly the biggest advance in bringing Sisters an identity was financial investment and involvement of the Leithausers and nine other founders in creating Sisters Rodeo. Since Pete knew everyone in the small community, the couple naturally gravitated to becoming part of the establishment of the rodeo

The rodeo was dependent on the wives of the founders. They painted numbers on pieces of oil cloth to pin on contestants, painted seat numbers in the stands, sold tickets and kept some order in a rodeo that quickly earned a reputation for rowdy good times, along with a growing celebrity as one of the best small rodeos in the nation.

In 2007, Sisters Rodeo Association honored Edith as the Grand Marshal of the rodeo parade. Pete was chosen as Grand Marshal in 1985.

After they sold the grocery in 1977, the Leithausers moved to 40 acres on Camp Polk Road, where their basement party room became a destination for many social gatherings over the next few decades. Edith liked to have fun, and was the right hostess for some really memorable evenings.

When she lost Pete in 1990, Edith refused to indulge in what she considered self-pity. Instead, she went to the post office (which she still owned and leased to the government at the current location of Melvin's) and spent a few days greeting people as they arrived to get their mail. In small towns, the post office is a center of social interaction, so she knew she'd be able to visit with everyone and hold on to her extraordinary appreciation of life.

Edith was a dedicated supporter of Sisters High Mountains Jazz Festival, never missing a performance in the festival's 15-year history. She was also one of the first seniors to enjoy Senior Meal Site gatherings until far into her 90s.

Her enthusiasm to be surrounded by children did not subside with age. In her 80s and 90s, Edith often hosted the parish children of St. Edward's, who scheduled visits with seniors and shut-ins as part of their religious education. A visit to Edith's house was a time of inspiration, as she told stories of Sisters and how her faith had kept her whole.

"Kids brought her much joy," Theresa Slavkovsky reflected. "I remember when a boy took an electronic game to her house and she got so excited. She wanted to learn how to play it."

Edith once described her life with Pete in Sisters this way: "We worked liked two dirty dogs and made a go of it." An entire community with some history in Sisters knows the truth of that. Edith Leithauser, even at 96 years old, taught an entire community how to "make a go of it" in an enchanting manner.