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Obituaries

Obituary for Virginia Baskett Leach Virginia Baskett Leach
Mathemetician Was Wyoming Native

Virginia Baskett Leach, 94, formerly of Lexington, Virginia died in Encinitas, California, on March 21, 2019.

She moved to California in January in order to live closer to her daughter.

Virginia was born on August 25, 1924 in Shoshoni, Wyoming, the daughter of Martin Tyra and Helen Sanford Baskett.

Her father was a sheep rancher and the family moved to Casper when she was a young child, but throughout her life she retained a love for the open sky and beauty of the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming.

She graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1945 and after college worked for a year as a mathematician for Bell Labs in Chicago, before returning to UK for graduate school in mathematics. While she was a student at UK, she met Maurice Derby Leach Jr. and they were married March 16, 1953 in Lexington, Ky., while he was home on leave from the United States Information Service in Beirut, Lebanon.

Virginia and Maurice lived together in Beirut, Lebanon and Cairo, Egypt for four years, returning to the U. S. in 1957. They were living in Cairo at the time of the Suez Crisis, and were evacuated by the U. S. Sixth Fleet to Naples, Italy. Their daughter, Sarah Stuart, was born at the American naval hospital in Naples.

After returning to the U. S., the family lived in Washington, D.C., and Lexington, Ky. In January of 1967, they left Kentucky for Amman, Jordan, where they lived until the June Six Day War; following a second evacuation, they moved to Beirut, Lebanon. Virginia developed a deep affection for the people and cultures of the Middle East during the years she lived in Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan.

Virginia was both practical and creative. After moving to Lexington, Va., in the summer of 1968, she was active in the Episcopal Church Women, knitting, sewing and creating needlepoint items for the "Fancy Work" table of the church bazaar. She learned to weave, wove the fabric for a winter coat, which she then sewed and entered in the "Virginia Make It With Wool" competition, winning first prize for her age division. She kept a large vegetable garden and froze and canned enough tomatoes, okra, beans, zucchini and cucumbers to feed her family, neighbors, contribute to numerous community festivals and still have leftovers when she moved out of her home. To the end of her life, she enjoyed drives through the countryside, views of the mountains and the ever-changing patterns of clouds in the sky.

She was a longtime member of the Ignorance Club, the Rockbridge Historical Society, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, the English Speaking-Union, and the Natural Bridge Garden Club.

Virginia was preceded in death by her husband, her parents and her brother, David Sanford Baskett.

She is survived by her daughter, Sarah Leach Davis (Peter); grandchildren, Margaret Stuart Davis and Matthew Cowan Davis, and by five nieces and two nephews.

The family would like to thank Home Instead Senior Care, Maury River Home Care, the staff of the Webster and Borden Centers of Kendal at Lexington and the staff of Silverado Encinitas for their care and support for Virginia through the past four years.

A memorial service will be held at Grace Episcopal Church on Monday, April 8, 2019 at 11 a.m.

Arrangements are by Harrison's Funeral Home and Crematory.