Laura Faye Leach

Laura Faye Marsing Leach passed away at the age of eighty-two in the late hours of May 9th, 2020 as a result of brain cancer.

She was born to Harva and Rebecca Marsing on January 5th, 1938 in Price, Utah at Carbon County Hospital. The ninth of twelve children, Laura Faye had three sisters and eight brothers, and grew up in a three-room house in Green River, Utah. She graduated from Green River High School in 1956 and later gave birth to three daughters: Jeanne, Gayle, and Audrey. Strong-willed and independent, Laura Faye worked her whole life and raised her daughters as a single mother, living in Las Cruses, New Mexico, Pueblo, Colorado, and eventually moving to northern Salt Lake. 

Laura Faye liked to joke that growing up she didn’t know she was poor until someone told her. In truth, her childhood was one of simplicity, but rich in the ways that mattered. While her family home had no modern conveniences and during World War II she wore cardboard insoles to keep the dirt from coming into the holes in her shoes, she relished summer nights in Green River, where she and her siblings roasted hot dogs around bonfires, and spent many afternoons canning peaches and selling cherries. Laura grew up with a love of country-western music and running barefoot through the alfalfa fields, a true tomboy in braids and a dress.

Born into a large family, she had a great love of socializing and was always up for a visit with a friend or neighbor. Throughout her life, her family and friends grew in number and she showed her love for them in the detailed and creative scrapbooks she enjoyed making. She was especially fond of Christmastime (and the snowmen that oft accompany it), and relished making fun crafts for her family and friends to enjoy during the holiday season. On quiet evenings she could usually be found working on one of her scrapbooks or watching one of her favorite Hallmark movies.

Laura Faye was a beloved daughter, sister, mother, and grandmother, and she is survived by her two siblings, three daughters, seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. She spent her final days surrounded by her loving family and will be dearly missed.