Leah Catherine Martin, age 73, passed away on August 8, 2026, surrounded by the people who loved her most. She leaves behind a family who loved her beyond measure, countless memories that will be treasured always, and a place in their lives that can never truly be filled.
There are people who love you, and then there are people for whom loving you simply seems to be part of who they are. Leah was that person.
She was feisty, strong-willed, sarcastic, and wonderfully witty. She had a quick sense of humor and a way of saying things that could catch you completely off guard and make you laugh. Beneath that strength and wit was an enormous capacity for love. Family was at the center of her world, and she loved her people fiercely.
Leah found happiness in many of life’s simple pleasures. She loved watching wrestling, playing pinochle, and was never disappointed by a plate of stuffed peppers, her absolute favorite. She loved making a house feel like home and had a particular passion for decorating. Christmas gave her an especially good excuse, and decorating her home for the holidays was something she truly loved.
Leah and her daughter, Rachael, shared an extraordinarily close bond, rooted in a love that ran deeper than words could ever adequately express. They could talk for hours, laugh, cry, watch television, take on a random project, or simply spend a day together with no agenda at all. They had been through so much of life side by side, and through every season, their love for one another remained constant. Rachael loved her mother beyond measure, and no matter how many years they might have been given together, losing her would always have been too soon.
Leah also shared a wonderful relationship with her son-in-law, Joey. Over the years, he became far more than a son-in-law to her. Their bond was entirely their own, and Leah loved him as a son. He was someone she laughed with, trusted, and loved dearly.
Few things brought Leah more pride and joy than being Granny to her two grandchildren, Rafael and Alexandra. With nearly twenty years between them, she had the gift of experiencing grandparenthood during two very different chapters of her life.
She adored Rafael and was immensely proud of the man he became. One of the great joys of her final year was being there to see him marry Genet. It meant so much to Leah to witness Rafael begin this new chapter of his life, and she was genuinely happy to welcome Genet into the family and share in the love and happiness they had found together.
With Alexandra, Leah had the joy of once again experiencing childhood through the eyes of a grandchild. Granny was woven into Alexandra’s everyday life, and the two shared an incredibly close bond. Their relationship was made up not only of birthdays, holidays, and special occasions, but of ordinary days together, the kind of time that quietly becomes part of a childhood and, eventually, a lifetime of memories.
Leah’s family also included her two stepsons, Ryan and Preston. Ryan, who lived nearby for more than a decade, became an especially close and meaningful part of her life. Over the years, their bond grew through everyday moments, shared memories, and the simple comfort of being family. Leah loved Ryan deeply, and he brought a special kind of joy to her heart. He was not just part of her family by name, but by love.
She shared a lifelong and treasured bond with her oldest sister, Linda. Their relationship carried the history that only sisters can share, built over a lifetime of memories, laughter, family, and knowing one another in a way few other people ever can. They had traveled through so many seasons of life together, carrying with them the shared history of where they came from and all that happened along the way. Through it all, theirs was a connection uniquely their own, shaped by a lifetime of being sisters and a love that endured through every chapter.
Leah also loved her nieces, Kris, Carrie, and Sarah, each of whom shared their own relationship and years of memories with her. She and Carrie could talk for hours, sharing countless conversations, plenty of laughter, and the kind of talks where they could work through whatever life happened to bring. Over the years, Leah shared laughter, family moments, and memories with all three, and being their aunt was another meaningful part of her life.
Leah’s final years asked an enormous amount of her. She endured illness, treatments, hospital stays, pain, setbacks, and uncertainty with remarkable strength and perseverance. Still, illness was only the final chapter of her story. It does not get to define the full, beautiful life that came before it.
Her life is better measured by the people who will miss her.
By the stories that will continue to be told about her. By the sarcastic comments that will make someone laugh because they know exactly what Leah would have said. By wrestling matches and games of pinochle, the smell of stuffed peppers, and the familiar ritual of bringing out the Christmas decorations each year. By family gatherings where her absence will be impossible not to feel. And by those ordinary moments when someone instinctively thinks, I need to tell Leah about this.
Leah believed in God and held closely to her faith. There is comfort in believing that after everything her body endured, she is now beyond pain and illness, at peace and reunited with loved ones who went before her.
For those who loved her, saying goodbye feels impossible.
There will never be another Leah. Another Mom. Another Granny. Another sister, aunt, stepmom, mother-in-law, or friend quite like her.
She was loved profoundly in this life, and she will be carried in the hearts of those who loved her for the rest of theirs.
Leah is survived by her daughter, Rachael; her son-in-law, Joseph “Joey” Theriault; her grandchildren, Rafael Rodriguez and his wife, Genet, and Alexandra Theriault; her stepsons, Ryan and Preston Martin; her sisters, Linda Hixson and Linda’s wife, Barb Brodbeck, and Barbara Fagnelli; her nieces, Kris Hixson and her husband, Jorge Varela Arce, Carrie Faison and her husband, George Faison, and Sarah McConnell and her husband, Bobby McConnell; her great-nephews, Murphy McConnell and Geordan Faison; and extended family and friends who loved her.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Charles William Martin, and Mary Alice Martin; her brother, William Charles Martin; and her sister, Alice Elizabeth Bridge.
A Celebration of Life service for Leah will be held on Friday, August 21st, 10:00 AM at the Chas. E. Davis Funeral Home officiated by Father Peter Okojie.
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