Shirley Ruth Gatewood Leahy

WADESBORO – On Saturday, March 15, 2025, Mrs. Shirley Ruth Gatewood Leahy, 85, formerly of Johnstown, CO, passed away peacefully at Hospice Haven in Rockingham.

Shirley was born April 6, 1939, in Anson County, NC and was a daughter of the late Samuel Gatewood and the late Annie Honeycutt Gatewood. She was a 1957 graduate of Wadesboro High School.

Those who are left to cherish her memory are her daughters, Kelli Hines of Arvada, CO and Lisa Leahy of Brunswick, GA; her brother and sister, Ed Gatewood of Wadesboro and Peggy Gatewood of Lilesville and her nieces and nephews and their families.

Shirley enjoyed fishing. She loved the outdoors and going on adventures. She loved driving in the mountains and checking out new roads and where they would lead her, putting a lot of miles and mud on her daughter's truck.

She often wanted to check out new lakes she read about in a fishing report during the week. This always added to her weekend adventures.

Shirley lived most of her life in Colorado, from 1963 until 2022. It was then she was unable to return to Colorado from a trip and she stayed in North Carolina with her sisters.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her brother and sister, Sam Gatewood and Nancy Gulledge.

The family would like to express their appreciation to the staff of Wadesboro Health and Rehab and to Anson Community and Richmond County Hospice for the care they provided Shirley while she was a resident of Anson County.

The arrangements are in care of Leavitt Funeral Home and online condolences may be made at www.leavittfh.com