Sharyn Kay Leach

1945 - 2019

Sharyn Kay Leach March 24, 1945March 20, 2019 Sharyn Kay Leach, of Howard, PA passed peacefully on Wednesday, March 20, 2019. An 11-year survivor of multiple myeloma, she was born March 24, 1945 in Bellefonte, PA, to James F. Kane, Jr. and Anna Louise (Corman) Kane, she is survived by her beloved husband of 27 years, Roland M. Leach, Jr., her siblings, Carole Klinger (Lloyd), Lynn Kane (KenAnne), James Kane (Patti), and children by heart, Raymond Leach (Juliet), Gary Leach (Christine), Guy Leach (Jenni), grandchildren, Hannah, Jack, Rachel, Ava, Maggie, Wyatt, Elly, Abby, Preston, great grandchildren, Charlie and Olivia, and nieces and nephews, Robert, Bradley, David, Apryl, Peter, Annette, and Cheryl. She was preceded in death by her parents and sister, Amy Louise Newton. A 1963 graduate of Bellefonte High School, she attended Lock Haven State College, and graduated from Penn State with a Bachelor of Arts and teaching certificate in elementary education. She graduated from Harrisburg Hospital School for Laboratory Assistants and worked as a forensic lab technician at Penn State University Labs in the animal and veterinary sciences, and molecular and cell biology departments. Sharyn was a renaissance woman. A lifelong musician and accomplished piano and organ player, she was taught to play on the same piano her grandmother and mother had learned on as children. Sharyn also sang in the church choir and loved performing in Bellefonte's Victorian Christmas. She was active and cared deeply about the ministries of Howard United Methodist Church, where she served as organist for at least 25 years, sharing her gift of music with countless brides, grooms, and families as they celebrated beginnings and endings. Sharyn was comforted knowing her piano would continue to be used to lift hearts and voices in song. A preservationist and naturalist, she loved planting trees in the town park, working alongside her husband to conserve regional farmland and green spaces. She loved hiking, sewing, crafts, and traveling. Sharyn loved her community and the people in it. She tended gardens of people and plants through her involvement in the Big Brother Program, 4-H, and church. She had an intuitive heart, quick to see a need she could meet, and quietly acted on her "nudges" to assist others. While she had no children by birth, the children brought into her life by marriage, through church, and through the many volunteer organizations close to her heart were blessed to know her kind thoughtfulness and love. The family extends their gratitude to the staff at Centre Crossings Hospice, especially Susan, Olivia, Chris, and Alissa, as well as the Cancer Care Partnership at Mount Nittany, especially Dr. Ford, Dr. Talamo, Emmy Lou, Kayla, Brenda, Lucy, Rachel, and Kelley. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Howard UMC, 144 West Main Street, P.O. Box 257, Howard, PA 16841 or Centre Volunteers in Medicine, 2520 Green Tech Drive, Suite D, State College, PA 16803 Family and Friends will be received at Howard United Methodist Church on Saturday, April 6, 2019, at 10 A.M. with an 11 A.M. memorial service to follow. A private internment will take place at a later date. Arrangements have been entrusted to Kader-Neff Funeral Home and Cremation Services. Online condolences may be made at www.kader-neff.com.