- Date Of Birth: August 29, 1920
- Date Of Death: December 05, 2015
- State: Indiana
Wilma C. Leach, 95, of Fairmount, Indiana died on Saturday, December 5, 2015, at Autumn Hills Alzheimers Care Unit in Bloomington, Indiana where she moved to be near her daughter. Born Sunday, August 29, 1920, in Wabash Co., Indiana, Wilma was the daughter of the late Wayne A. Carey and Ruby (Holman) Carey.
She was a 1938 graduate of Fairmount High School, where she was an outstanding student. She married her high school sweetheart, Dale Mark Leach, on April 2, 1939. He preceded her in death on May 23, 1979. She and Dale owned and managed the Leach Food Market and the Bottle Shop in Fairmount for several years. Wilma was known for her wit, dry humor, beautiful writing and a love of shoes, clothing and cut glass. An extrovert and social butterfly to the core, there was nothing Wilma loved more than meeting new people and visiting with her many friends.
She had a talent for connecting and making people feel important, appreciated and heard. Wilma also adored hosting her bridge club and played in several card clubs for over 50 years. Always active and curious, Wilma learned to fly an airplane in her 40s and accompanied her husband in a single-engine plane on various trips around the country. She was also a world traveler, visiting countries throughout South America, Europe and Asia. She made one of her last overseas trips in her 70s, traveling to Japan to visit a former exchange student she had hosted. Her granddaughters considered her sophisticated, funny, beautiful and a bit glamorous. They loved her enthusiastic, circulation-blocking hugs and dramatic, never-to-be-believed declarations, such as, honey, I was going to leave you some money but Ill probably spend it all on wine, men and song. In short, was a real character. Wilma was a member of the Fairmount Friends Church, American Cut Glass Association and the Phi Chi Epsilon Sorority of Marion where she held the offices of treasurer and president. For several years Wilma volunteered by collecting clothes for underprivileged children in the Appalachian mountain region of Tennessee.
She leaves behind her loving daughter, Jacqueline (Bruce) Frey and adoring granddaughters, Rochelle Torke of Berkley, California and Elizabeth Frey of San Rafael, California. She had three great-grandchildren, Jonas and Abram Torke and Cleo Wells Frey. Wilma was also predeceased by her son Stephen Leach and her brother and sister-in-law Robert and Mary Joan Carey.
