Gary Franklin Leake
Gary Franklin Leake, age 70, passed away on Thursday, February 8, in Corsicana surrounded by his loving family. He was born on August 29, 1953 in Charleston, West Virginia to Kenneth and Emalee (Hall) Leake. The family moved to Texas in 1964 and settled in Wilmer. Gary attended school at Wilmer Hutchins High School.
In May of 1971, Gary was introduced to his future wife, Cynthia Cooke, by a friend of hers. They were married on July 22, 1972 and they made their home in Ennis raising their two sons, Wesley and Chris. Gary worked a variety of jobs in his lifetime. His first job was working for his dad at Ken-Lee Drywall hanging sheetrock in the DFW area. Then he went on to work for Universal Tank and Iron Works as a shipping and receiving clerk in Ennis. His next job involved erecting water towers for Pittsburg-Des Moines. Gary later worked for Walmart as an acting assistant manager for a few years. He then went on to work for Security Vault Works (Dallas, Texas branch) installing ATMs and working on various bank construction, demolition and remodel projects. He traveled extensively with this job until his retirement in 2019, making numerous friends along the way. Gary’s son, Wesley, can recall numerous adventures that he and his dad had while working together at SVW. After retirement, Gary continued to work part time for Thomas Frank until his health declined.
Gary was a simple man and worked hard to provide for his family, but also spent time creating memories with them, even while on the road. As his youngest son, Chris, had Cystic Fibrosis, they were involved with various fund raisers for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, including Reunion Run (climbing the stairs) at Reunion Tower in Dallas, the Continental Climb (climbing the stairs) at Continental Tower in Ft. Worth, and various other fund raising events for CF. He enjoyed playing softball, and later, watching his own sons play baseball. As a family, they enjoyed the great outdoors – camping out, cooking on the grill, hunting, and just enjoying nature. Gary also enjoyed going on cruises and trips with family and friends, especially the trips to Costa Rica. At home, he and Cynthia had a great time watching their two cats, Whiskers and Bunny, playing together. They were quite entertaining and kept Gary greatly amused. Gary enjoyed watching old western movies, eating peanut butter balls, and spending time with the grandkids. He was also known to scratch a lottery ticket or two!!
Gary is survived by his wife of 51 years, Cynthia Leake; son, Wesley Leake (Kami Matthews); step grandchildren, Brayden Bratcher, Brooke Amison (Josh Amison), Nathan Bowling, Stormi Matthews (Kolton Matthews); Jace Matthews, and Jaxon Matthews; step great grandchildren: Kynsley and Kamryn Matthews and Aryan and Alec Amison; brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law: Doug and Denise Cooke; Paula Rinehart; Bill and Karen Cooke; David and Rose Cooke; Andres and Lana Allen; several nieces and nephews; and several great nieces and great nephews.
Gary is preceded in death by his parents; his father-in-law and mother-in-law, (or pop-in-law and mom-in-law as Gary affectionately called them) Owen and Martha Cooke; son, Christopher Leake; brother, Eddie Leake; sister, Debbie Brown; nephews Phillip Leake and Kenneth (Kenny-Ken) Leake; and brother-in-law, Rick Rinehart.
Gary was dearly loved and will be greatly missed. A memorial service celebrating Gary’s life will be held on Saturday, March 9 at 1:00 pm at the Cowboy Church of Ennis.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Cowboy Church of Ennis or to the Boren Reagor Springs Historical Cemetery.
