KAREN "JOY" LEACH
January 5, 1949 - July 24, 2017

MANSFIELD —Karen "Joy" Leach, 68, of Mansfield a former Minford area residence passed away Monday, July 24, 2017 after a long fight with brain cancer. Born January 5, 1949 in Portsmouth, a daughter of the late Alton L. and Garnet Marie Grimshaw Deemer, she was a 1966 graduate of Minford High School, was a nurse at People's Hospital in Mansfield and retired in 2011 from Mansfield Surgery Center. Joy loved being around her family and going to her grandchildren's ball games and cheering the teams on. She loved to travel and being outside working in her flowerbeds and gardens.

She is survived by her husband of 49 years, Arnold "Shorty" Leach of Mansfield; one daughter, Lori (Scott) Rolfe of Lucasville; one son, Chad (Mindee) Leach of Mansfield; four grandchildren, Brittney Rolfe, Bryan Rolfe, Lauren Leach and Jayden Leach; two sisters, Ruth (Claude) Sammons of Minford, Judy (Luther) Lewallen of Alderson, WV, and several nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by one sister and brother-in-law, Mary and Paul Keller.

Funeral services will be conducted at 3:00 p.m. Friday, July 28, 2017 at Erwin-Dodson-Allen Funeral Home in Minford with Pastor Michael Workman officiating. Burial will be at Bennett Cemetery in Minford. Friends may call at Caesarea Baptist Church, 807 Taylor Road, Mansfield, Ohio 44903 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. Thursday with a service at 7:00 p.m. with Pastor Hank Webb officiating, and from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Friday at Erwin-Dodson-Allen Funeral Home in Minford prior to the service on Friday.