Funeral service for Benny “Joe” Leach will be 10 a.m., Friday, December 4, at Cedar Point Church with Pastor Rick Burke officiating. Burial with military honors by the U.S. Army will follow at Washington Cemetery under the direction of MMS-Payne Funeral Home & Cremation Service. Visitation will be held at the funeral home Thursday from 1-8 p.m., and family will greet friends 6-8 p.m.
Joe passed away Sunday, November 29, 2015, at the Claremore Veterans Center at the age of 69.
The son of Marion Leroy Leach and Gracie Melvina (Gillum) Leach was born January 11, 1946, at the family home in Pryor. He attended school in Chouteau until the 5th grade when he started Foyil schools. He graduated from Foyil High School. While in school he studied auto mechanics at the Vo-Tech, and continued to work on cars throughout his life. Joe served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam Era in Okinawa, Japan. From 1975-1984 Joe was a co-owner of Claremore Auto Salvage. In 1991, he went to work for the Rogers County Rural Water District #5. He retired as the plant manager in 2008 after 17 years of service. Joe enjoyed hunting in his younger years, and also enjoyed playing chess. He was an avid reader and had every Louis L’Amour book that was published.
Joe is preceded in death by his parents; brother, Olen Leach; and brothers-in-law, James Gaghins, Jerry Still, and J.R. Robichaud.
He is survived by his children: Angela Burton, Benny Leach, Jr., and Jerri Dawn Leach; siblings: Autry Leach and wife, Sherry, Edna Lucille Gaghins, Neoma Inman and husband, Don, Margaret “Peggy” Cavalier and husband, Jim, Chester Leach and wife, Kathy, and Edith Maxine Robichaud; sister-in-law, Freda Leach; and grandchildren: Kaitlyn Burton, Jesse Burton, Joseph Burton, Danika Burton, Dylan Leach, Brandon Leach, Brittney Leach, Elizabeth Leach, Makaelah Leach, Hannah Ditsch, and Haley Berger.
