Mrs. Louise Gass Leach, 88, departed this life on Tuesday, October 9, 2012, at 583 Winter Park Drive in Shelby.  She was born Safroni Louise Gass on October 25, 1923 in Bishopville, SC the fourth child of eight born to Jerome and Ethel Florence Johnson Gass.

She attended school in SC as well as Cleveland County Schools in North Carolina.  She met and later married Edward Leach and they moved to Elizabeth NJ. They later relocated to Cranford, NJ where she resided for over 40 years. While in N.J. she was employed and retired from Supermarket Service in Linden, NJ. She returned to Shelby in 2004.

As a young woman in Shelby, Louise was a member of the Flying Clouds gospel singers.  Once in NJ, her home of worship became Guiding Star.  She served faithfully on the Usher Board for over 30 years and sang in the choir for almost as many.  When you walked into Guiding Star, with Louise as the Doorkeeper, you knew you were welcome.

Louise always kept herself busy and loved working around the home and in the garden.  Until her recent illness, you could catch her doing anything from riding the lawn mower to cutting the grass or in the garden with her green thumb growing some of the best tasting greens and other produce you would ever taste.

Louise ALWAYS had a smile for you.  Her walk with the Lord was an obvious one.  She didn’t have to tell you, because she showed you in her daily living.  But oh, she would surely tell you from whom all her strength and blessings came from.  It was Jesus Christ, Lord of her life now and forever more.  She didn’t have a “little light” to let shine.   She had a big light shining.  Louise worked and prayed, while she still had time. 

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Edward Leach; her brothers, Dennis Gass, Josefus Gass, Lawrence Gass, Bishop Lucious Gass and Robert Gass and a sister, Blanche Maddox.

Louise is survived by her brother, Jerome Gass, Jr. (Madeline) of Shelby, NC; niece LaShonda Singley (fiancé, Diallo Thompson) of Charlotte, NC both whom she helped rear; an additional sister-in-law, Mary Lillian Gass of Elizabeth, NJ and a host of nieces nephews, other relatives and friends.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, October 15, 2012 at 11:00 AM at Guiding Star United Holy Church, in New Jersey.  Burial will follow at Rose Hill Cemetery in Linden, NJ.  The family will receive friends from 5:00 until 8:00 PM on Sunday, October 14^th, 2012 at Guiding Star.  There will also be a visitation from 11:00 AM until 2:00 PM on Friday, October 12, 2012, at Enloe Mortuary.  Condolences can be expressed at www.enloes.net.  Enloe Mortuary will be serving the family in Shelby; G. G. Woody Funeral Home, 206 E. 8^th Ave., Roselle, NJ will serve the family in New Jersey.