Phillip M. Leach

Services will be as follows: On Sunday, June 13, between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., the family will visit with friends in the Allen Parlor and Henderson Chapel at First United Methodist Church, 805 Denman Avenue in Lufkin.

On Monday, June 14, between Noon and 12:45 p.m. everybody is invited to share a light lunch in the Allen Parlor at First United Methodist Church.

Immediately after the light lunch, at 1:00 p.m. the funeral service will be held in the Sanctuary at First United Methodist Church. The Reverend D. Nick Sholars, Senior Pastor, and the Reverend Carol C. Turner, former Pastor, will preside.

Interment will follow at the Garden of Memories in Lufkin.

Memorial gifts may be made to First United Methodist Church, Lufkin, or to your favorite charity.

Honorary pallbearers include Joe Rich, Tom Tatum, Floyd Marsellos, LeRoy Lott, Joseph Tatum, Billy Jackson, Benton Musslewhite, Bill Trout, Dan Spivey, Clarke Beaird, Bill Kistler and George Chandler. Pallbearers include Buddy Temple, Wayne Corley, Trey Henderson, Carl Ray Polk, Jay Shands, John Phillip Friesen and Gip Friesen.

The family wishes to express sincerest thanks to all the fine physicians and the staff of Memorial Medical Center, Lufkin, especially the In-Patient Rehabilitation and Intensive Care Units. Special gratitude goes to the physicians who provided such excellent care, particularly Doctors Glenn, Moran, Bachireddy, Hudson, and Cheriyan.

Hospice in the Pines In-Patient Unit gave superb care during the last week of Phillip's life, and the family is grateful to Demetress Harrell, the Executive Director, and to Dr. Spore, Hospice Medical Director, the nurses, and the staff.

Funeral arrangements by Gipson Funeral Home directors.

Born August 4, 1930, in Lufkin, he was the son of Mr. and Mrs. E. W. (Atha) Leach who preceded him in death, as did his only sibling, his elder brother, Elliott Leach.

Leach attended public schools in Lufkin, and graduated from Lufkin High School in 1948. Always a sports fan, Leach lettered in football, basketball, and track, and was known among teammates as "Skinny Leach". Receiving a basketball scholarship to Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, he graduated from there in 1952 with a degree in biology.

On June 14, 1952, Leach was married at First Baptist Church, Lufkin, to Emmie Joyce Holleman, whom he had known since the two were in Junior High School. The couple had two sons, Phillip, Jr. and Les.

Leach served in the United States Army during the Korean Conflict. He was stationed in the northernmost part of Japan and received an honorable discharge. In his later years, he enjoyed attending reunions with the men of his unit.

Upon returning to the United States, Phillip, and his wife, Emmie, moved to Austin where he enrolled in the Law School of the University of Texas. In 2000, an endowed scholarship at the UT Law School was named for Phillip Leach.

After graduating from Law School, the Leaches returned to Lufkin where he and Ward R. Burke formed the law firm of Burke and Leach which remained part of the legal landscape of Angelina County for some 50 years until the death of Mr. Burke, also in 2010.

Both Burke and Leach were associated with Southern Pine Lumber Company which became Temple Industries. Leach served in a variety of capacities, including Assistant General Counsel, General Counsel, and Vice-President-Law, the title he held when he retired in 1984.

For the next two years, Leach worked at Angelina College as Director of the Business Division where he was involved in the implementation of a computer curriculum as well as the teaching of real estate and business law.

In 1986, Arthur Temple invited Leach to work at the T. L. L. Temple Foundation where he became Executive Director in 1990, a position from which he retired in 1999. In 1986, Leach was made a Trustee of the Temple Foundation and remained so until his death.

Phillip Leach was devoted to his friends, many of whom he knew from his days as a child on Sayers Street in North Lufkin. He was a past President of the Alumni Association of Lufkin High School; he also served as President of the Sideliners' Club.

Professionally, Leach was a member of the local Bar Association and served on a variety of State Bar of Texas committees, particularly those which focused on estate planning and estate taxation. Leach was a member of the Lions' Club, and like his father and grandfather, he was a Mason.

Leach served many roles at First Methodist Church, Lufkin, where he was a life-long member. For decades he was a Church trustee; he was a member and chair of the Church Finance Committee, as well as the chair of the congregation's Official Board. He taught Sunday School for the high school seniors for several years, and was superintendent of the Adult Division of the Sunday School. And he tithed his income to his church and to a variety of worthy projects, organizations, and institutions.

Phillip Leach is survived by his wife of 58 years, Emmie Leach. Their elder son is Reverend Dr. Philip M. Leach, Jr., who lives in Canada. Their son, Les, who is Chief Operating Officer at Memorial Health System of East Texas in Lufkin, and his wife, Christina Fant Leach, live in Lufkin. Katie LeeAnn Leach is Phillip and Emmie's only grandchild; she was the light of her grandfather's eye.

Gipson Funeral Home; directors