John William Leach, beloved husband, brother, and uncle, died on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, at University Hospital in Columbia, Missouri. Although he lived in various cities and states in his life’s journey, he was at heart, a lifetime resident of Marshall. He was a member of the Marshall Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
John was the older of two children. Born in Sedalia, Missouri on September 10, 1947, he was the proud son of Oscar Gerald and Jane Bea Leach. He graduated from Marshall High School, Class of 1965. In 1970, he volunteered for the US Army and was deployed to South Viet Nam from 1970-1971. Upon his return, he was assigned to recruiting duty in Collinsville, Illinois for the remainder of his six years of service. He was honorably discharged in 1975.
Following his military service, John returned to Marshall and assumed the position of assistant manager of the Western Auto Store in Marshall, where he worked alongside his father, owner Gerald Leach. After leaving Western Auto, he was employed by Echart’s Hardware in Carrollton, Missouri, where he became involved in the custom cabinet business and discovered his passion, kitchen design. Highly successful in the industry, he was later featured in a nationally well-known business journal as a young professional of high potential.
John ventured into the cabinet business as a career in 1985 as a sales representative for Triangle-Pacific Cabinets in Kansas City. He was promoted to district manager in 1986, and transferred by the company to San Antonio, Texas. From there, Merillat Industries recruited him to head their Florida operations, centered in Orlando, Florida. Later, he was hired as a change agent and problem solver for Sunshine Kitchens in Jacksonville, Florida. While there, he rescued their failing regional operations from a consistent and substantial debit balance to an extremely profitable asset. At the pinnacle of his career, he served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Gordon’s Cabinet Shop, one of the largest and best-known cabinet manufacturers and kitchen design businesses in southern California. He ended his career as chief kitchen designer, head of cabinet sales, and primary installation manager for Huntsville Lumber Company in Huntsville, AL. While there, he negotiated a contract with Breland Homes, the primary home builder in the Huntsville area, as their sole supplier. As a result, his designs brought revolutionary changes to the kitchen design industry in North Alabama which was the fastest growing urban area in the state. He retired in 2016.
Those who knew him were amazed by John’s incredible memory for facts and trivia on every subject. He was especially adept in the fields of sports, history (particularly World War II), airplanes, and Corvettes. Anyone who bothered to fact-check John Leach in an effort to discredit him quickly found themselves vanquished.
John was often the center of attention in social situations as he regaled stories of historical figures and events, personal encounters with sports celebrities, tales of growing up in Marshall, or adventures during his service in Viet Nam. He was an avid boater and spent many happy hours vacationing and later spending leisurely retirement years at the Lake of the Ozarks. Favorite pastimes were reading biographies and classic detective novels and collecting black and white movies from the glory days of Hollywood. He was an avid fan of the Kansas City Chiefs and the Missouri Tigers as well as resident expert of statistics from the inception of his favorite teams to the present.
After retiring, John returned to Marshall where he renewed a post-high school romance with Karen Marsh Guthrie. The two were married in 2021. John was preceded in death by his parents, Oscar Gerald Leach and Jane Bea Purves Leach. He is survived by his sister, Nancy Jane Leach Johnson of Harvest, AL, a niece, two nephews, and six great nieces and nephews.
Memorial graveside services with military rites will be held at 2:00 p.m. Friday, October 4, 2024, in Sunset Gardens Cemetery, with Rev. Randy Shannon officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to the Saline Animal League. Friends may sign the online register book at www.campbell-lewis.com