Leanette Bockweg

Leanette (Pingel) Bockweg, 86, of Latonia, KY, passed away, March 7, 2025, at Hospice of St. Elizabeth, Edgewood, Ky, due to complications from emergency open heart surgery on Feb 10. She passed into the arms of Christ in the presence of her family. Leanette was born on December 22, 1938, in Covington, KY, to Leo and Hilda (Meiman) Pingel. She was a devoted wife and mother, and was the heart of the Bockweg family. She and Dave Bockweg were happily married over 65 years and had five sons: David, Roger, Tim, Gary and Andy. As a devoted member of St. John the Evangelist Catholic church, Covington, she and Dave lead their family with Christian values, teaching their children the importance of devotion and reliance on the faith, and to love others as themselves. This included over the years taking into her home 4 elderly relatives and her down syndrome brother Jimmy to live with the family. Family and friends are welcome to visit from 4 to 7 pm on Friday March 14th , at Middendorf Funeral Home, 3312 Madison Pike, Ft Wright, KY 41017. A second visitation will be held Saturday, March 15th at 10-10:50 a.m. at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, 627 W. Pike Street, Covington, KY 41011. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11 a.m., also at St John. Interment at St John Cemetery, Ft. Mitchell, KY. Survivors include her loving husband of over 65 years, David R. Bockweg of Latonia, her sister Marita Harthan of Memphis, TN, five sons David (Laura) Bockweg of Union ,KY, Roger (Lisa) Bockweg of Florence, KY, Timothy (Susan) Bockweg of Covington, Gary Bockweg of Taylor Mill, and Andy (Tracy) Bockweg of Burlington, KY. She also leaves behind 12 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren. Leanette’s creativity and spontaneity made for a joyous marriage to her husband, and an exciting and fun filled life for their children. Although only having the equivalent of 2 years of high school by graduating from Xavier’s Commercial School for Girls in Cincinnati at the age of 16, she was talented with English and wrote poetry for years which was published in 2024, in her book, “Leanette’s Fifty Years of Writing Poetry.” Her great interest in art and in various mediums of it, was self-taught and led to a wonderful way to leverage her skills to benefit the family. To help bring in extra money after leaving her job working in the office of a local company to start a family, mom started doing pen and ink sketches of local landmarks and Catholic Churches and selling them at local art fairs. Her talent for sketching structures led people to ask her to sketch their homes. This led to sketching hundreds of homes in the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area, right up until her surgery in February. Leanette’s early years were formed by her experiences growing up in the Peaselburg neighborhood of Covington. She published a collection of stories and sketches about this topic in another book in 2023 called, “Peaselburg, Known for its Geese.” Her family went through a lot of economically hard times when she was a child. Subsequently, she made good use of anything she got her hands on. If she couldn’t use it, she found someone who could. Another self-taught talent Leanette had was cooking. Having to feed a husband and five hungry boys (as well as live-in father and downs syndrome brother for years), she was excited to provide both variety and excellent flavor to feed her family. Even this year she was still clipping new recipes from the newspaper and testing new dishes at least several times a month. Through St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic church (and grade school), she was a life-long volunteer, serving in various capacities including church choir member, leading the decoration of church for Easter and Christmas, running the Hoxworth blood bank for decades, and constant fundraising work including parish festivals and other events. For the grade school, she and dad were most famously known as, ‘Mr. and Mrs. Pick-A-Stick,” a weekly fundraiser to help supplement tuition for students in need. Finally, her faith and love of neighbor drove everything she did which resulted in a richer world for her family and her community. We, as her family, will live on by honoring her with our commitment to faith and the development of self for the benefit of others. In lieu of flowers, Leanette's family appreciates donations to her beloved church, St. John the Evangelist. Donations can be mailed to 627 W Pike St. Covington KY 41011.