Nancy Leinbach

Leinbach (Yocom), Nancy Lee

Nancy Lee (Yocom) Leinbach, 87, died peacefully, on her own terms, on 23rd April 2023 at the Carol Woods Retirement Community in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Her elder son, Jonathan, was by her side, with Phil, her husband of 65 years, nearby.

Nancy was born in Urbana, Ohio on 9th April 1936, and spent her formative years in Middletown, the eldest daughter of Clyde and Kathryn Yocom. She is a 1954 graduate of Middletown High School, where she excelled academically. She attended Ohio Wesleyan University and earned her BA from San Diego State University - as a newlyweds she and Phil drove across country for his posting in San Diego as a commissioned Naval officer. They lived in Monterey, California, and Yokohama, Japan during his service. They returned stateside to Bloomington, Indiana, and then onward to Boston (20 years), New Orleans (17 years), and finally Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where they retired. Along the way Nancy raised two sons, earned an MA from Lesley University (Cambridge, MA), PhD in psychology from Boston College, and in her retirement an MFA in creative non-fiction writing from Ashland University (Ashland, OH). Professionally Nancy worked as an early childhood educator and as a psychologist for adolescents at Southeast Louisiana Hospital.

In addition to living in Japan, and London for a year (1970-71), Nancy and Phil traveled extensively throughout North America and Europe. She had a special knack for planning memorable and highly researched trips, which she did for each of her grandsons, who had their own customized "10-year-old trip" exclusively with "Pop" and "Gee," as well as family trips to Hawaii, Isla Mujeres (Mexico), and many years to Brevard, NC. She also fulfilled a lifelong goal in 2013 to see elephants in their native habitat in Tanzania, East Africa. Nancy first came to yoga while in England and practiced for decades. In her later years, she and Phil encountered Buddhism and became devout practitioners.

Nancy is survived by her husband, Phil, sons Jonathan and Timothy, daughters in law Jenny Leinbach and Fran Vavrus, grandsons Teddy, Gus, Jack, and Oscar, sister Penny Regula, and brother David.