Obituary
Jean K. Leach Nicholson
TUSCALOOSA - Funeral services for Jean K. Leach Nicholson, age 93, of Tuscaloosa, Ala., will be 2 p.m. Monday, December 23, 2019, at Ridgecrest Baptist Church with Rev. Jim Headley and Rev. David Mills officiating. Visitation will be one hour prior to services at the church. Graveside services for the family only will be held at Memory Hill Gardens with Memory Chapel Funeral Home, a Dignity Memorial Provider, directing.
She was preceded in death by her husbands, Randall Peck "Scoop" Leach, father of her children, and Charles F. "Nick" Nicholson; parents, Tommie Ford Key and Shelby Langford Key; brother, Tommie Ford Key, Jr.; sister, Maxine Key Smith; and infant son, Thomas Randall Leach.
Survivors include her daughter, Anna Key Leach; sons, Randall Bruce Leach, Dr. Sydney Minturn Leach (Gloria) and James Watson Leach (Mary); seven grandchildren, Hadley Leach, Brett Whitehead (Angie), Lisa Jones (Wes), Sam Leach, Nick Leach, Jackson Leach and Jessica Caraballo-Simpson; four great-grandchildren, Kalee Jones, Keegan Jones, Victoria Whitehead and William Whitehead.
Jean was born in Akron, on October 16, 1926. She moved to Tuscaloosa to attend nursing school where she met and married Scoop Leach. It was in Tuscaloosa that they raised their family and cared for her mother Shelby in her later years. After Scoop passed away, she met and married Charles "Nick" Nicholson and they had 12 happy years together.
She loved her family and had a special love for all her Hale County kinfolks, each and every one. She dearly loved all her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, her brother Bubba and her sister and best friend Maxine, and all her nieces and nephews.
Jean had a servant's heart and an angel's smile. If you had to go an extra mile, she would walk it with you. She was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside. She cared for family, friends and strangers alike. Her faith was a testament and a guiding light for all to see.
She also loved her church family at Ridgecrest Baptist Church, where she attended faithfully until her health failed. She most of all loved and served her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and today she is with Him and her loved ones in Paradise and Life Eternal.
We want to thank son Bruce and special caregiver Linda Miller for tirelessly giving such wonderful care to her these last few years.
Pallbearers are Mike Lovejoy, Steve Keith, Buddy Butler, Ken Richardson, Coy Haney and Dr. Rush Smith.
Honorary pallbearers are past and present members of Ridgecrest, Winsome Faith Sunday School Class, Bro. Curtis Kelly and wife Barbra, Rodgers and Linda Wilson, Don and Dorothy Poole, Anthony and Sherri Emerson, Betty Jones, Eddie Lary, Carolyn Hatfield, Francis Haney, Dr. John Miller and Hospice Home Care nurses.
In lieu of flowers, make donations to Ridgecrest Baptist Church or Hospice of West Alabama.
Published in Tuscaloosa News on Dec. 22, 2019