Carolyn S. Leisch

1943 - 2021

Carolyn S. Leisch, 77, passed away Sunday, May 2, 2021, in Shenandoah, Texas.

She was born in Quincy, Ill., July 23, 1943, the daughter of Cletus Vale Houston and Hazel Mae (Bullard) Houston.

Her early years were spent farming in Adams County and Hancock County, where she attended Warsaw High School.

She married Robert A. Vance in 1960. They had two children, Randolph (Randy) Ivan, and Sandra (Sandy) Lyn, and were engaged in farming near Denver, Ill.

While in the Carthage, Ill., area, she was a member of First Baptist Church where she was a Sunday school teacher and chairman of the music committee. She and her sister, Arlyene, were known for their beautiful voices and sang together at the church many times.

She was chairman of Hancock County Homemakers Extension, president of Music Boosters at Carthage High School, and vice president of Mother's Club at Union Douglas Grade School. Carolyn and Robert later divorced after 24 years of marriage.

She graduated from Patricia Stevens Career College in St. Louis, Mo., and moved to Aurora, Colo., near her sister, Arlyene, in Colorado Springs. She created Advanced Hotel Marketing Corporation, and later married retired Illinois State Trooper, Gerald (Jerry) W. Leisch, of Danville, Ill., where they resided. He passed away from Cancer, after three years of marriage, in 1996. She then relocated to Colorado once again, until she suffered a stroke in 2003, then lived in Montgomery, Texas, with her daughter, Sandra, and her family for a few years. She worked at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs a brief time before returning to her daughter in Texas again in 2011. Her last years were spent in Woodland Manor Nursing Home in Conroe, Texas, suffering from vascular dementia.

She was preceded in death by her parents; a brother Melvin Houston of Basco, Ill.; a brother Hubert Houston and his wife Janice of Golden, Ill.; and a sister-in-law Bonnie Houston of Holliday, Mo.

She is survived by her son Randy Vance and wife Audrey, of Johnstown, Pa.; daughter Sandra Harding and husband J.T. of Montgomery, Texas; three grandsons, Benjamin Vance of Johnstown, Hunter Harding of Vernon Hills, Ill., and Tanner Harding of Highlands Ranch, Colo.; one brother Marvin Houston of Holliday, Mo.; one sister Arlyene Reynolds and husband Randy of Colorado Springs; plus several nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be at First Baptist Church in Carthage on Friday, May 7, from 10 a.m. to noon, with a funeral service to immediately follow at the church. A luncheon will be provided afterward at the church as well. For further information, contact Printy Funeral Home in Carthage.

She will be buried next to her late husband Jerry Leisch at Oak Hill Cemetery in Danville, Ill., on Saturday, May 8, at 1:30 p.m.