Nona Leigh McLeroy

Nona Leigh McLeroy

December 31, 1958 - October 1, 2025

Nona Leigh McLeroy was born on December 31, 1958, in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Muriel McLeroy and W. B. “Mac” McLeroy, Jr., and quickly welcomed into the world by her only sister, Lynn. She was gathered into the arms of Jesus on Wednesday, October 1, 2025.

At age 8 she gave her life to Jesus Christ and, by God’s grace, never looked back.

Leigh attended Alief elementary, middle and high schools, and received a B.S. in Journalism from Texas A&M University in 1981. Decades later, she earned a Masters in Cultural Apologetics from Houston Christian University. She was a lifelong lover of words, of reading and writing, the author of several books, and a contributor, editor and “midwife” of many more.

She was blessed in her twenties with the births of nieces Katharine Leigh and Victoria Grace, lights of her life at every age and stage.

In her late twenties, Leigh began consistently teaching the Bible: in her home among friends, in the church, and at retreats and women’s events locally, and later across the country. She loved the Word of God, loved people, and loved telling the good news of God’s pursuing grace.

Her network of friends and colleagues was broad and diverse; her circle of lifelong friends was small and deep. She loved connecting and gathering people, delighting in their commonalities and their differences.

In 2004, she began writing a weekly devotional essay called Wednesday Words, celebrating God’s presence in everyday life. She continued this practice until days before her death, sending Wednesday Words to a wide distribution of both friends and strangers for more than 1500 Wednesdays in a row.

In 2019, Leigh joined what she affectionately called her “last church,” Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, Houston, where she made dear friends and put down roots, serving as a teacher, elder, and later on staff as Teacher and Writer-in-Residence.

She is survived by sister Lynn McLeroy Weatherly, brother-in-law Mark Weatherly, nieces Katharine Hatcher, husband Jason Hatcher and their daughter Evelyn and Victoria Means, husband Sam Means and their son Amos.

Those who wish to remember Leigh with memorial tributes may direct them to the charity or ministry of their choice, or consider Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church Legacy Fund, A. D. Players at the George, a Christian Theater Company, or Darkroom Faith, a creative apologetics outreach ministry to Gen Z, where Leigh served on the board of directors.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8: 38-39