In loving memory of Kathy J. Leyva: Feb, 7, 1953 - Dec. 30, 2022

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A celebration of life for former Battle Ground Public Schools teacher Kathy Leyva has been scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023, in the gymnasium of the district’s Glenwood Heights Primary School, 9716 NE 134th St., Vancouver. 

Mrs. Leyva, who taught third- and fourth-grade classes at Glenwood Heights for 28 years, died Dec. 30, 2022, in a Vancouver hospital. She was 69.

Born Kathy Jean Heilig on Feb. 7, 1953, in Portland, Oregon, Mrs. Leyva was one of three daughters of George E. and Florence E. Heilig. She attended Capitol Hill Elementary School in southwest Portland and was a graduate of since-closed Jackson High School. 

She completed a degree in elementary education and special education at Portland State University. 

Mrs. Leyva taught special education in Porterville, California, for 10 years before moving to Vancouver. She was briefly a substitute teacher in the Battle Ground district before accepting a full-time position at Glenwood Heights. 

She retired in 2016. 

Mrs. Leyva is survived by a son, Nick Leyva of Vancouver; and sisters Joan Lennox (Ed) of Tigard, Oregon, and Judy Krueger (Rick) of Spartanburg, South Carolina. 

Former colleagues, students and friends of Mrs. Leyva are invited to attend the Jan. 29 gathering in the Glenwood Heights gymnasium. 

In lieu of flowers, Mrs. Leyva’s family asks that memorial contributions be made to the Humane Society for Southwest Washington. Learn more at southwesthumane.org