Marva Joan Kanouse Hubbard LeDou
Marva was born in Vici, OK to parents Josiah (Jay) Snyder Kanouse and Stella Irene Kanouse (yes, they were first cousins J) on October 19, 1938. She was born with a club foot and endured many surgeries throughout her childhood. She said the challenges of walking and of being far from family while in the hospital, as well as the death of her father when she was five, gave her the strength and perseverance she would need throughout her life. Her father, Jay, was the blacksmith in Vici, he created her first leg brace; doctors marveled at the design and how effective it was in helping Marva walk. Marva was born the sixth of nine children and is survived by siblings Patsy Dotson of Susanville, CA, Lester Bouydston of Woodway, TX, and Arnola Watkins of Darrouzett, TX.
With her family, Marva moved to McKinleyville, CA on the northern CA coast in her early teens. There she met and married her first husband, James (Jim) H. Hubbard in 1955. Her four children followed, Vickie Irene, James Othman, Robert Wayne, and Lesley Leon. After living in many places throughout northern California and Oregon, they moved to Susanville in 1962, then divorced in 1965. Following her divorce, Marva went to work at Safeway, where she worked for 30+ years in the bakery, the floral dept. and the bread dept.; she also made lifelong friends while there. She also developed her art of cake decorating during those years, creating many stunning weddings and other celebratory cakes for friends and family, out of her own kitchen.
Marva married W. T. (Thad) LeDou in 1968, enlarging her family with Thad’s four grown children, Patsy, Richard, Frances, Carla. Thad played rhythm guitar in a local country western band at local venues and Marva joined in as their singer. They soon gave up the smoky venues and ultimately found their favorite venue, in worshiping their Lord at Janesville Baptist Church (the Log Cabin Church). Shortly after Thad’s passing in 1995, Marva retired from Safeway and began many years of volunteer work in various roles at her church, in teaching writing to ESL students for a program through the local library, and in working with a group of churches, in more recent years, for a sports-oriented Vacation Bible School every summer for local children. She had a servant’s heart and these “jobs” gave her both a sense of purpose and great joy. Her own exceptional writing skills made it a joy to receive a note or letter from her, or to read her stories about her childhood. Marva loved to laugh, or cackle some would say; the many shared memories of friends and family, always include laughter. Her faith and her laughter were the antidotes to challenges she faced and conquered.
Marva, 81, passed on Thursday, July 23, 2020 at Lassen Nursing and Rehab Hospital. She is survived by her children, Vickie Converse (Dave), James Hubbard (Terri), Robert Hubbard (Shawn), and Les Hubbard (Lisa), and 16 grandchildren. Also surviving are her stepchildren, Patsy Clark, Rick LeDou, Fran Hyatt, and Carla May, and 9 grandchildren. And many great grandchildren.
A graveside service celebrating her life among us and her eternal life will be held on Tuesday, July 28th at 10:00 AM, as she is laid to rest beside her husband, Thad, in the veteran’s section of Diamond Crest Cemetery.
When Enough Time Passes
by James Hubbard
Time passes too fast, now it’s time,
To lay our mother under the green grass.
Our memories with her are set in stone,
They will last forever from the past.
Mother has entered the ever-lasting,
Where there is no more passing,
No sorrow, no mankind clashing.
Where the future, the present,
And the past blend.
Where there is no first, or last,
And the end of time never passes.
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