Leland Sather
January 18, 1942 – September 20, 2026
Leesburg — Leland Bryce Sather passed away on September 20, 2026, in Leesburg, VA. Lee was born on a sunny Sunday in Mitchell, SD on January 18, 1942. After relatively short residences in Forestburg and Mount Vernon, SD, he and his family arrived in Yankton, SD in 1949 where he graduated from Yankton High School in 1956. He received his B.A. from Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD in 1960, his M.A. in History from the University of Nebraska in 1967, and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1975. He met his beloved wife, Wendy Ellen Sather, in a Swedish class at UCSB. He was a professor of History at Weber State University from 1970-2008, specializing in Scandinavian History. He was selected to serve as the University’s Faculty Athletics Representative from 1988-1993 and as the History Department Chair from 1993-2002.
Lee loved to play golf (although he noted he was not very good), read, go for walks, and have coffee with his friends. As he grew older, he liked to think that his relationships throughout life with his family, friends and neighbors were his greatest treasures. These connections included his parents, Thorvald “Jack” and Isabel Sather; his wife Wendy who predeceased him in 2016; four siblings, Sonja (David) Dunn, Marlys (Bob) Russell, Gordon (Ruth) Sather, and Paul (Linda) Sather; his children John Sather, Kate Sather Sigmund, and Brittanie (Stephen) Eggan; daughter-in-law Mako Sather; and six awesome grandchildren, Alicia, Neo, Everett, Annika, Asher and Bryce.
A memorial service will be held in Leesburg, VA in October. Interment will be held in the spring in Santa Paula, CA, where he will be laid to rest with his wife.
In lieu of flowers, those who wish to honor Lee may contribute to Blood Cancer United (formerly the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society) at https://bloodcancerunited.org/.