Leroy P. Schleich, Jr.

Service Change
Funeral Service will be
Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011, at 10:00 a.m.


Leroy Phillip Schleich, Jr., 83, passed away December 16, 2011 at the Arkansas Valley Regional Medical Center.  Funeral service for Leroy Schleich will be held at the First Presbyterian Church in La Junta on Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. Visitation was Monday, December 19, 2011 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Peacock Memorial Chapel. Interment will follow at the Fairview Cemetery. 
Leroy was born October 7, 1928 in Scottsbluff, Neb. to Phillip and Katherine Schleich. He spent his childhood on a farm in the Bent’s Fort area and also farmed with his family in Las Animas County.  At the age of 22, he enlisted in the Army for two years where he spent 10 months in Japan.  At the completion of his military service, he worked at Holly Sugar in Swink.  He then started a hay hauling business with his brother, Melvin.  Leroy married Nancy Kay Bailey on December 28, 1963.  In 1965, he began working at NIBCO as a welder.  He retired from NIBCO in 1986 and then once again went into business with his brother Melvin doing landscape work. 
Throughout his life, Leroy enjoyed working in his yard and garden, making Christmas candy every year, coaching his sons’ little league baseball teams, watching the Colorado Rockies and the Denver Broncos.  Most of all, he enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren and watching them participate in sports, music programs, and theatrical plays.  

Preceding him in death are parents Phillip and Katherine Schleich, Sr.; sister and brother-in-law Clara and Bill Wirth, brother and sister-in-law Bill and June Schleich, and an infant brother, Howard.  Survivors are wife Nancy of the home; sons Robert Schleich of Greeley, and Gary (Melonie) Schleich of Ft. Collins; daughter Kathleen (Jeff) Paolucci of La Junta; and brother and sister-in-law Melvin and Carol Schleich of Trinidad.  Leroy is also survived by his grandchildren, Sydney Schleich of Greeley; Hannah Cross of Ft. Collins; Jay, Nathan, Justin and Nicholas Paolucci of La Junta; and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the First Presbyterian Church, 111 East 20th Street, La Junta, CO, 81050 or the American Heart Association, 1586 South 21st Street, Colorado Springs, CO, 80904 direct or through the funeral home.