Norma W. Leach

May 23, 1944 - November 27, 2015

COLEBROOK – Norma W. Leach, 71, of Colebrook, NH, passed away late on Friday, Nov. 27, 2015, at the Morrison Nursing Home in Whitefield, NH, after a long period of ill health. She was born in South Weymouth, Mass., on May 23, 1944, a daughter to the late Elwyn and Harriet (Beaudry) Shurtleff. Norma was a long-time advocate for local children and families. For a period of more than 25 years, she was a dedicated foster parent to more than 100 children, and she served as an educational advocate for special needs children, working closely with the state’s Division of Children, Youth & Families. She worked with the National Alliance of the Mentally Ill (for children), and also served on the board of directors for the Parent Information Center in Concord and the NH Foster & Adoption Parent Association. Norma also served as a long-time member of the Juvenile Court Diversion team and the Infant Mental Health team in Colebrook. She was also a Tupperware representative for many years in the local area, she owned and operated the “House of Dolls” for 10 years making a variety of different dolls and toys, and she also opened her home as the “Sweet Dreams Bed & Breakfast” on South Main Street for 10 years. Norma’s Christian faith was very important to her, and she was a long-time member of the Monadnock Congregational Church, serving on the board of trustees and other church boards, and she volunteered at the local food pantry. She was also a past member of the Azicohos Grange. She leaves behind her three children, James Bennett and wife Kim of Colebrook, Carol Leach of Colebrook, and Randy Leach of Albany, NH; five grandchildren, Molly & Lauren Bennett, Dylan Leach, Ransom Placey and Dagan Parker; two sisters, Louise Wagner of Redding, Conn., and Cynthia Shurtleff of Kingston, Mass.; and her godson, Michael W. Wagner of Peoria, Ill. Norma is preceded in death by her first husband, Maurice Bennett in 1965, and a sister, Nancy Blake in 2011. Calling hours will be on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Jenkins & Newman Funeral Home in Colebrook. A funeral service will follow the next day, Thursday, Dec. 3, at 11 a.m. at the Monadnock Congregational Church in Colebrook with The Rev. Paula Fletcher officiating. Burial will immediately follow at the Wilson’s Mills Cemetery in Maine. Expressions of sympathy in memory of Norma may be made to the Two Rivers Ride for Cancer, c/o R. Mulliken, 53 Spring St., Colebrook, NH 03576. Condolences may be offered to the family by going to www.jenkinsnewman.com. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Jenkins & Newman Funeral Home, Colebrook, NH.