Julia Davis Leonard

  Julia Georgeia Davis Leonard, age 96, died peacefully at home on January 12, 2017, surrounded, as always, by the family who cherished her.    A memorial service will be held at 4 pm Sunday, January 15 at Grace Episcopal Church, by the Rev. M. Alton Plummer.  A private burial will be held at Lexington City Cemetery.    The family will receive friends following the memorial service at the church.     Mrs. Leonard was born November 19, 1920 to Ruth Roman Davis and Jasper Alden Worcester Davis.  In 1942 she graduated from Woman’s College, now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, with bachelor of science degrees in chemistry and home economics and a bachelor of arts degree in history.  At UNC-G she was president of the Interfaith Council and later chaired a six-county area for the University’s first major fund drive.  After teaching high school in Hendersonville and Thomasville, she married Robert Lacie Leonard, Jr. of Lexington in 1946.  She then served as Davidson County Treasurer for two years.    Mrs. Leonard was an active community volunteer, having served as president of the Charity League, the Lexington Women’s Investment Club, the Richard Walser Book Club, and the Lexington P.T.A. Council.  She also served on the boards of the United Way, the Lexington Civic Music Association, the Lexington Youth Theater, and was a member the Lexington Garden Club and various community fund-raising committees throughout the years.  An active member of Grace Episcopal Church for 70 years, she served as president of the Women of the Church for several terms, on the Vestry, the Preschool Commission, the Alter Guild, the Columbarium Committee and as a Sunday School teacher.    Mrs. Leonard enjoyed history, reading, traveling, genealogy, sewing, cooking, and entertaining, which she did beautifully.  She was an extremely unselfish person who was devoted to her family and her community.  Her grandchildren brought her the greatest pleasure in life, and she was and will always be adored by each grandchild.  She will be missed not only by her family but also by many friends who knew this intelligent, gracious, amazing lady.    She was predeceased by her parents, her husband of 69 years who died in 2016, a brother Jay Davis, and a sister, Bettie Lefevers, formerly of Charlotte.   She is survived by two daughters, Jill Spalding and her husband, Carter, of Richmond, Virginia, and Jane Whitehurst and her husband, Bill, of Lexington; six grandchildren, Brandon Spalding and his wife, Shelley, and Julia Blair Spalding and her fiancé, William Hunter, all of Richmond, Virginia; David Clark Smith of New York City, Alden Smith of Winston-Salem, Robert Smith and his wife, Claudia, of Raleigh, and Will Whitehurst of Atlanta; two great-grandchildren, Carter Spalding and Betsy Spalding of Richmond; and a brother Steve Davis of Chapel Hill.    In lieu of flowers, the family gratefully suggests that memorials be made to Hospice of Davidson County, 200 Hospice Way, Lexington, NC  27292; Grace Episcopal Church, 419 S. Main Street, Lexington, NC  27292; The Lexington Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 866, Lexington, NC  27293; or a charity of the donor’s choice.