Leah U'Ihokulani Iaea Pronovost

Leah U’ihokulani Iaea Pronovost, 59, went home to our Lord on January 21, 2022 in Port Orchard, Washington.

Leah was born in San Bernardino, California to Helen and the late Walter Iaea Jr. She is the oldest of four children. Raised on the island of O’ahu, she graduated from Mililani High School with honors and was a finalist in the Hawaii Miss Teen USA competition. While attending the University of Hawaii, she traveled to Europe with the fashion club. She graduated with a Bachelors’ Degree in Science. After college, she was accepted into the Merchant Marine academy at King’s Point, New York and commissioned as an Officer with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

As one of the ship’s designated Dry Suit Divers, NOAA took her on adventures to Peru, the Galapagos islands and the Pacific Northwest to support the Valdez Oil Spill off the coast of Alaska. While in the Pacific Northwest, she met her ‘Hawaiian-at-heart,’ love of her life, husband of 32 years, Pat.

Family is everything for Leah. She loved being a mom, grandmother and spending time with ‘ohana. She was always there and willing to drive and fly anywhere, anytime to be there when someone needed her.

Leah is survived by husband Patrick Pronovost, sons Joshua (Amanda), Joseph and Thomas Pronovost, Granddaughters Melanie and Leilani Pronovost. Mother Helen Iaea, Siblings Walter K Iaea III, David K Iaea, Laura Iaea-Behic (Keoke) and many nieces and nephews.

A funeral service is 11am PST on February 4, 2022 at St Gabriel Catholic Church, followed by a reception at the Rill Life Tribute Center in Port Orchard, WA. Services will stream live on www.stgabrielpo.org .

Eulogy for Leah Pronovost
One of Leah’s favorite prayers from Saint Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love
Where there is injury, let me sow pardon
Where there is doubt, let me sow faith
Where there is despair, let me sow hope
Where there is darkness, let me sow light
Where there is sadness, let me sow joy

INTRODUCTION:
Leah U’ihokulani Iaea Pronovost, born in San Bernardino, California to Helen and the late Walter Iaea Jr. She is the oldest of four children. Raised on the island of O’ahu, she graduated from Mililani High School with honors and was a finalist in the Hawaii Miss Teen USA competition. While attending the University of Hawaii, she traveled to Europe with the fashion club. She graduated with a Bachelors’ Degree in Science. After college, she was accepted into the Merchant Marine academy at King’s Point, New York and commissioned as an Officer with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

As one of the ship’s designated Dry Suit Diver, NOAA took her on adventures to Peru, the Galapagos islands and the Pacific Northwest to support the Valdez Oil Spill off the coast of Alaska. While in the Pacific Northwest, she met her ‘Hawaiian-at-heart,’ love of her life, husband of 32 years, Pat.

Family is everything for Leah. She loved being a mom, grandmother and spending time with ‘ohana. She was always there and willing to drive and fly anywhere, anytime to be there when someone needed her.

MIDDLE:
Pat and Leah met at the intersection of Lider & Sydney – where Pat issued Leah a traffic ticket for getting into an accident (Leah’s side of the story). Pat and Leah raised three handsome boys – Josh, Thomas and Joey, along with many fur babies. Leah always took care of the animals (strays) in the neighborhood – putting out food and water for the cats and squirrels.

Leah was born to teach and always giving of herself. She faithfully served as a CCD Teacher, here at St. Gabriel, for over 15+ years. The role of the CCD Teacher is to bring young people closer to Jesus and grow in their faith as Catholics. She also home schooled her children and volunteered with the home school organization for 12 years.

Leah volunteered for the South Kitsap Western Little League for 23 years. She started as a Team Mom and donated her time for Scorekeeper, teaching Scorekeeping Clinics, Scorekeeper at Regional tournaments and Player Agent.

A devoted wife, Leah supported Pat through 35 years of law enforcement and volunteered at the Washington State Police Pistol Association. She supported Pat’s avid shooting by spotting for him and helping w/statistics and scoring tournaments.

Leah embodied the meaning of “Family” ‘ohana. One of the Troopers from Pat’s Tacoma detachment described Leah as the ‘den mother of Detachment 1.’ They would fight over her banana bread at Christmas and she still baked for them even after Pat left that Detachment. She was described as an example of what ‘family’ means.

MEMORES:
From Helen, mom – “Leah was the most selfless person I know. She’s always caring and thinking of others. She had incredible patience.”

From Pat, husband – “The first time I saw her was like an electric shock. I was sure I knew her, that we had met before.” Leah was always supportive of Pat, the household and his career. Leah is the reason I could go to work, confident the boys were safe and taken care of. I was fortunate to have met Leah “by accident”; I was fortunate she said yes when I asked her to brunch at Hiram’s; I was fortunate when she said yes when I asked her to marry me; I was fortunate she was willing to put up with my many faults through 32 years of marriage. Her beautiful smile, positive attitude and thoughtfulness carried me and the boys throughout the rest of her too short life. To paraphrase Lou Gerhig, “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth, to have been able to spend 32 years of my life with Leah.“ I wish it was longer, she was my best friend and I will miss her.

From Josh, son – My mom, Leah, had shown me a lot of things. She was a volunteer, she was a mother, she was selfless, she cared about all God's creatures, she was an amazing grandma and she was an even better mother. She taught me right from wrong, how to see what you can do for others and how to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, you know, the usual stuff.
One thing I recall she showed me, not on purpose was what real love looked like. A memory that always stuck with me was one day in my late teens seeing how happy my mom and dad were in the kitchen making breakfast. The true happiness and the bond between them were obvious. I knew at that moment that's what I wanted out of love. Someone who is there with you no matter what happens and who is truly happy with who you are. It was the embodiment of her teachings of love and was the most impactful example of what true love was.
A more recent memory was getting the opportunity to dance with her at my wedding this past August during the Mother Son dance. She had tears of happiness in her eyes. She told me she was lucky to see me grow up and change into the man I had become. She said she was proud of my accomplishments in the U.S. Army Reserve and that I had fulfilled my dream from a young age to become a Washington State Trooper like my dad. She was proud of the father I am to my two daughters. She said she was proud of the older brother I had become, always looking out for my younger siblings. She also said she was so lucky to share the Mother Son dance at the wedding.
All I could think is that I was the lucky one. I was lucky to have her to teach me right from wrong. I was lucky to have her undying love and care as her child. I was lucky to have the memories with her in my life. She is a large part of who I am today and will always be a part of me. I am and will forever be grateful that she was my mother and I will never stop trying to live from the lessons she taught me and making her proud.

From Thomas, son – Mom was always there for me. I could depend on her to be there always.

From Joey, son – Mom was always made time for me. She was always there when I needed her, even for simple questions. I could always count on her being there for me.

From Walter, brother – This memory comes from Leah's 1st Brother - The more handsome one with the perfect muscular physic and it is an overall summery of how she affected everyone. Leah is and will always be one of the smartest individuals we know. She always got good grades and was the one who set the top of the class curve. Leah had the special ability to interpret what the book was trying to teach us and explain it in such a way that we could understand it. She made it easy to follow her path through school and I wanted to say Thank You again for everything she did for us.
Of course, I do want to apologize to our younger sister who had to follow her two brothers paths of Chaos & Destruction.
Now for Walters fondest personal memory is when Leah taught him how to properly take tests so you could get good scores assuring you the opportunity to succeed in anything you want - "Knowledge Is Power".
Just a notable milestone in Pat's and Leah's life journey as they were in Hawaii riding the Windjammer Booze Cruise where I worked and Pat asked me if I could recommend a romantic restaurant as he was going to pop the question and I suggested Jamison by The Sea on the North Shore where Leah said YES.

From David, brother – One of my favorite memories is working as a lifeguard with Leah. I enjoyed that time together with her at Mililani Rec Pool. One day, Leah came to my house with a toothache. I made some ‘awa root for her. “It takes like dirt” she said. Within 30 minutes, her mouth was numb, and she was all smiles again. Also enjoyed spending time this past August. Love you my older sister.

From Laura, sister – My sister is my first best friend whom I looked up to. Her smile, warm presence and good listener filled my heart. She had patience for days. My fondest memories are the winter trips to stay with her, Pat and the kids. Spending that time together was precious, we were grateful for every minute and the airport drop offs were filled with tears. Skiing, watching chick flicks and going on spiritual retreats were often on our itinerary. My last cherished memory is watching her, in Pat’s arms, walking down the aisle at Josh’s wedding. She was glowing as a proud wife and mother of 3. Forever in my heart.

From Hoku, Niece – I remember Aunty Leah was here and stayed at Grammy’s house when the earthquake happened. Josh and the boys were rough playing next to my bed when I was sleeping. LOL

From Jade, Niece and God Daughter – Aunty Leah, I love you. Thank you for helping me get things for my apartment and for helping me with schoolwork no matter what time of day it is. She’s an angel and will be missed tremendously.

From Amanda, daughter-in-law - I met Leah for the first time in 2016 and since then we have been able to share and create a lot of family memories. She was so supportive in everything Joshua and I had ventured in. From seeing us start our family with Melanie, being there for the birth of Leilani, buying our first home, getting married and everything in between. Rain or shine, her support never wavered.

From Melanie, granddaughter - In the summertime we would go and play in the mini pool and pretend it was a hot tub. When we were done, we went and got the water guns and the water balloons and we would shoot them at each other and at the dogs. After all of that, we would just play all day in the sun.

ENDING:
One of Leah’s favorite quotes “we shape our lives not by what we carry with us, but by what we leave behind.” As we move forward, turn your hearts to Our Lord. She is with him and you will find comfort with HIM.