Willie Ruth Sharpe Leonard

Willie Ruth Sharpe Leonard, 90, of Grimes Circle, passed away Wednesday, March 2, 2016, at Hinkle Hospice House. The funeral will be 11 a.m. Monday, March 7, 2016, at Davidson Funeral Home with the Rev. Elizabeth Horton officiating. Burial will follow in Forest Hill Memorial Park. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home on Sunday, March 6, 2016. Mrs. Leonard was born September 19, 1925, in Davidson County, to Garney Reid Sharpe and Cora Edna Young Sharpe. She graduated as valedictorian from Churchland High School in 1942 where she had also lettered in basketball and in 1946 graduated from Mercy Hospital School of Nursing. She enjoyed raising flowers and bird watching. She joined Churchland Baptist Church at the age of 14 on August 12, 1940, and was baptized in the Yadkin River on August 25 by the Rev. Nolan Coy Teague. She was a Sunday school teacher at First Reformed United Church of Christ. Mrs. Leonard was a nurse for Dr. Redwine and volunteered at Grimes Elementary School and for the National Polio Vaccination Campaign. In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by her husband, Frank Coble Leonard Sr. who died December 19, 1977; brothers, Council Sharpe and Archie Sharpe; and sisters, Etta Feezor, Ethel Michael, Lettie Everhart, Laura McBride, Mary Snider, Edna Raye Everhart, Elaine Barnes and Glenna Lanier. Surviving is her son, Frank Coble Leonard Jr., of the home; and many nieces and nephews whom she loved very much. The family would like to thank the staff of Alston Brooke and Hospice of Davidson County for their compassionate care. Memorials may be made to First Reformed United Church of Christ, 104 East Center Street, Lexington, NC 27292 or Hospice of Davidson County, 200 Hospice Way, Lexington, NC 27292.