Michael LEDFORD

LEDFORD, Michael W.

Age 79 of Franklin Township and formerly of Kettering, passed away due to heart disease on Thursday, July 1, 2021, at his residence. He is survived by his devoted wife of 54 years, Heidi (Roth); daughter, Catharine; son-in-law, Bryan Jones; granddaughters, Olivia and Sophia; and a special cousin, Larry Harp. He is also survived by a sister and many other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Willard and Alyce (Leichty) Ledford and an infant brother, Charles. Mike was a proud graduate of Carlisle High School. He attended The Ohio State University on an academic scholarship and played freshman basketball. He graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Science Education and was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He received a Master of Education

Degree from Xavier University. For most of thirty years in

public education, Mike was a high school biology teacher and over twenty of those years coached several sports, mostly

basketball and golf. He started his career at Carlisle High School and taught/coached at several Ohio schools including eighteen years at Belmont High School. In his last years, he

supervised the in-school suspension program at Patterson

Co-op High School and the Dayton Career Academy. After

retirement from public education, Mike was the outings and league coordinator at Larch Tree Golf Course until 2001. In 2015 he was honored by Carlisle High School and was inducted into the Carlisle High School Athletic Hall of Fame and was also the recipient of an award given by the Ohio Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Mike was always thankful that he was able at age fifty-six to safely hike Mt. Whitney in California, the highest mountain in the lower forty-eight states. His greatest pleasures in his retirement years were the Amtrak cross country trips and the time he spent with his granddaughters, Olivia and Sophia. Funeral services will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 7, 2021, at the Anderson Funeral Home-Franklin Chapel, 1357 East Second Street with Reverend Doug Bottles officiating. Interment will follow in New Jersey Presbyterian Cemetery. The family will receive

visitors from 11:00 a.m. until the time of the services on

Wednesday at the funeral home. Condolences and memories may be left for the family at www.anderson-fh.com.