Obituary of LeRoyce Johnson Lather

Lather, LeRoyce J.

Bay City, Michigan

 

LeRoyce Johnson Lather, 84, loving wife of 45 years, mother, and grandmother, per her wishes, “woke up dead” Saturday, March 2, 2024 in Bay City, Michigan in the care of hospice. LeRoyce was born on April 27, 1939, to Ezra B. and Roma S. (Skinner) Johnson in Winfield, Kansas. She spent her formative years in Cambridge, Kansas, graduating from Cambridge Rural High School in 1957.
 

Following high school, she attended Kansas State University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics. After a short stint teaching in Kansas, she attended The Ohio State University on a full scholarship, earning a Master of Arts in secondary education counseling. From there she went to Birmingham, Michigan where she began her counseling career at Birmingham Seaholm High School and met her husband, Curtis Edward Lather. They married June 24, 1967 in Cambridge, Kansas before moving to Bay City, Michigan where they raised their family. After spending more than three decades in public education, she retired in 1997 from the Bay City Public Schools and Handy Middle School.
 

In the infinite scheme of things…she was a benevolent force to be reckoned with, a creature of integrity, and an executor of practical creativity that was huge and unstoppable. She was the perfect complement to Curt, an anchor to his whimsical nature. She was the person to go to if you wanted something sewn, fixed, or figured out. LeRoy, as she was known to Curt, had vast range and was anything but traditional, she defied the culture’s view of what a woman can and should do. She wielded her culinary expertise and was a gifted and creative seamstress. She was also the handiest person you might ever meet, fixing something nobody thought could be fixed, finishing a basement, building a deck, solving an unsolvable problem, and so on and so forth…
 

We would like to thank the staff and residents of New Hope Bay for providing a loving and caring home and community for the past four years. She spoke regularly about the many wonderful friends she made there.
 

LeRoyce was predeceased by her parents, her loving husband, and her beloved dogs, Loki, Brandy, and Shadow. She is survived by her siblings, James (Judy) Johnson, Darrel Johnson, and Charles Johnson; her children, Judd (Terri) Lather and Brooke (Sarah) Lather-McElligott; her grandchildren, Anya & Reid Lather, and Leila, Luna & Jude McElligott-Hasan; and her adopted family, Greg, Teagan & Taylee Nadolski.
 

A celebration of life is planned for the summer. She has one final request to all who loved her: Stay out of trouble…  To sign online guestbook, visit www.cremationsocietymidmi.com  Arrangements made with the Cremation Society of Mid Michigan.

 

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