Lela “Lee” Ann (Keirns) Uhlemann was a loving daughter, mother, sister, aunt and friend. Lee passed away at home surrounded by family after a battle with cancer on April 6, 2021 at age 73.
She was born to Lloyd and Lola Keirns on May 19, 1947 in Santa Barbara, California and grew up in Temple City, California. After graduating high school, Lee attended community college at Pasadena City College and worked for Pacific Bell. She married Michael J. Wilbur in 1968 and had two children, Stephanie and Matthew. After raising her children, she moved to Coalinga in 1991. She married Steve Uhlemann and together they had two children, Layla and Stephen.
Lee worked at the Coalinga Library for 14 years. She started as a Desk Clerk in 2004 and later became Acquisition Specialist in 2006. As a lifelong avid reader and music lover, she had her finger on the pulse of new releases and was able to share them with her beloved town.
Lee was an animal and nature lover. She had many pets throughout her life and made many charitable contributions to foundations supporting these causes. Lee was also a devout Catholic and supported many Catholic charitable organizations her entire life.
Lee was preceded in death by her parents and her sister, Carolyn.
In addition to her four children, Lee is survived by her sister and brother-in-law, Nancy and Wes Northey of Arkansas; as well as two nieces and a nephew.
Funeral services will be held at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Coalinga at 10:00am on Thursday, April 15th. A rosary will be said preceding the funeral at 9:00am, and a gravesite visit will follow the funeral at Pleasant Valley Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Nature Conservancy.