Obituary of Leslie 'Jean' Pankey

Leslie Jean Lombard Pankey – July 4, 1933 – October 16, 2021 Leslie Jean Lombard Pankey, 88, went home to be with Jesus on October 16, 2021. She was born to Walter Leslie Lombard and Barbara Ruth Roy Lombard in Cripple Creek, Colorado on July 4, 1933, where her father was working in the mines. At an early age they moved to Eaton, her mother’s hometown. At the age of 3 after attending a birthday party she became paralyzed and was later diagnosed with polio. She was in and out of hospitals for lengthy stays for much of her early childhood and the disease left her with one leg being 3” shorter than the other. This obvious mark of an insidious disease slowed her down but didn’t stop her. She was working at a movie theater in Eaton when she met Roy Verne Pankey. They married immediately following her graduation from Ault High School in June 1951 and moved to Greeley. During their marriage they lived in Greeley, Boulder, California, and back to Greeley in 1962. Over the next 47 years they raised two daughters and tended numerous dogs, cats, horses, cows, ducks, turkeys, all of whom were named "Pedro.” Jean accepted Christ as her Savior in 1953 through the radio ministry of Back to the Bible. In the 1960-70s she was actively involved at Greeley First Evangelical Free Church (Christ Community) and the Greeley Christian Women’s Club leading Friendship Bible Studies. Later, she was an active member of the Greeley Wesleyan Church. In the early 1970s she began meeting with a group of women who prayed together weekly for nearly 40 years. She also joined a small group of women in founding the Greeley Women’s Ministry Center where she was active on the steering committee and led Bible studies and journaling classes over the years. Also, in 1970, Jean started journaling to document what God was teaching her or for personalizing paraphrases of scripture. Prayer and journaling were the two hallmarks of her life. Although the effects of Post Polio Syndrome left her body weak and dimentia robbed her memory, she retained a sweet spirit; a gift to those who cared for her. She is dancing with Jesus and singing the love song that He wrote just for her. Jean was preceded in death by her husband, Roy Pankey, and her sister, Ruth Lombard Senier. She is survived by her daughter Roberta Godden (son-in-law Nicholas, deceased); daughter and son-in-law Linda and Dwight Cannon; granddaughter and grandson-in-law Becky and Peter Jones; and grandson Chris Cannon . A memorial service will be held on November 12, 2021 at Bethel Baptist Church in Greeley at 2:00 p.m. Memorial Gifts can be made to Bethel Baptist Church, 2307 17 Avenue, Greeley CO 80631