HOOVER, Leota

The Daily Courier, Prescott, Arizona, Monday, October 20, 2014 Leota McCown Hoover, 76, of Chino Valley, died Oct. 12, 2014, of cancer. She was born in Kentucky and came to Arizona after years in Alaska where she met her husband Jerry and raised her three children, Janet, Christine and Travis. In Alaska, she trained to become a counselor specializing in the teachings of Elisabeth Kubler Ross, with whom she studied in England. She became well-known as an educator who applied Ross's theories in group work with clients suffering from childhood trauma. After obtaining a degree in Counseling Psychology from Prescott College, she worked with women as a therapist and addictions counselor at Pia's Place. Leota became interested in writing personal essays after working with Susan Lang at Yavapai College, and her essays won awards and were published in literary magazines, notably So to Speak, Byline, Threshold, and Recovery Magazine. She served as treasurer of Professional Writers of Prescott and was a popular innovator in the group. At the time of her death, Leota was working on a memoir about her relationship with Elisabeth Kubler Ross. A celebration of Leota's life will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014, at the Prescott Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 925 Rancho Vista Drive, Prescott, Ariz. Information provided by survivors.