Joseph C. Leshock

Dr. Joseph C. Leshock, 97 of East Lansing, Michigan, ascended to a higher calling on February 29, 2024, surrounded by loving family members in their East Lansing home. The family will have a No Visitation Rosary in the chapel at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in East Lansing, on Thursday, March 14, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. Visitation on Saturday, March 16, 2024, from 10:00 a.m. until the 12 noon Funeral Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 955 Alton Road in East Lansing. Joseph will be laid to rest thereafter at St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Lansing, MI.

Joseph was born on June 20, 1926, in Danville, Pennsylvania, the fourth of six children of John and Anastasia Leshock. He attended two years of high school, before graduating and attending Mount Saint Mary’s College in Emmitsburg, MD. Following an accelerated plan, he graduated and followed in his older brother John’s footsteps, to serve his country as a fighter pilot. The Navy intervened saying, “We need more doctors than fighter pilots.” They sent him to Chicago, IL where he enrolled in medical school at Loyola University. He served his first-year internship at City Hospital in St. Louis, MO. He returned to Chicago, ending up at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, graduating in 1948. This is where he met the love of his life, Therese Catherine Jans Leshock, who worked there as a Registered Nurse. Married in 1951, Therese and Joseph relocated to East Lansing in 1954 at the request of Monsignor Jerome V. MacEachin, the charismatic pastor of the Catholic Church in East Lansing.

Dr. Joe and Terry performed missionary work in Guatemala with the Maryknoll Missionaries during the early years of their marriage. They created the “Holidays for Humanity” program, selflessly giving up months of their time to transport medicine, machines, and supplies into the mountains for those who had little or no medical care. They set up clinics and served hundreds of patients, focusing on children and assisting mothers in resolving child-bearing issues. Their heroic efforts were quite successful, saving many lives, especially children.

Dr. Joe began his formal OB/GYN medical practice working at St. Lawrence Hospital in Lansing, Michigan. He built a powerhouse medical practice with two other founding doctors, Dr. Joseph Caruso and Dr. Donald Quigley. Together they made an obstetrics gynecology infertility practice that focused on underserved people needing quality care. Their practice was known throughout the mid-Michigan area as one of the top providers in this field. He enjoyed privileges at Sparrow Hospital and Ingham Medical Center, but St. Lawrence Hospital was the place that provided the best medium for all of his care, and he conveniently located his office next to the hospital.

Dr. Joe was a dedicated Catholic and a strong advocate for Right to Life, attending daily mass wherever his travels sent him. In several trips to Mexico, he would visit remote parishes in towns to help less advantaged people. With local priests, he arranged to get them resources and needed services to survive tough times. A vacation was never complete without meeting families and helping them with medical and financial issues.

Joe loved to spend time with his family in Northern Michigan, building a cottage on Crooked Lake near Petoskey, Michigan in 1969. Family trips up north became a welcome occurrence, teaching his family how to drive boats and fish right off their dock. Many people he met became close family friends, a testament to his wide-reaching charisma, doing so alongside the efforts of his loving wife who shared his same desires and values. Joe became very close with pastors in several area churches, living out his ultimate purpose of helping everyone he met. Joe was a generous provider for his family and the charitable causes that he supported, characterized by his wide-reaching efforts to help anyone in need, as well as being an unequivocal supporter of all Twelve Step programs.

Most of all, Joe will be remembered as a family man. He was the epitome of a loving husband, father, brother, brother-in-law, cousin, uncle, grandfather and Gpop. He was a man of deep faith, kind, generous, non-judgmental, patient and gracious. He was the rock of the family, and in this he never faltered. Joe and Terry were married for 59 years, until Terry died on October 25, 2010.

Joe is survived by seven of his living children, Mary Anita (Tom) Naab of Brighton, MI, Richard Leshock of Winston-Salem, NC, Joseph (Janet) Leshock of Victoria, MN, David (Jennifer) Leshock of Grand Blanc, MI, Maureen (Tom) Petersen of Zionsville, IN, Christopher (Susan) Leshock of Naperville, IL, Kathleen Leshock of Sugar Land, TX, and by his brother, Daniel (Elaine) Leshock of Schaumburg, IL., and sister-in-law Elizabeth Leshock of Palmerton, PA. Also surviving are his 16 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren.

Joe’s family would like to express their many thanks to the dedicated people who worked for Drs. Leshock, Caruso and Quigley, along with the many doctors who took care of Joe during his life, including Dr. Kristin Gaumer, Dr. Mark Ensberg and Dr. Todd Hickox. Without their care and support, he could not have been as successful in his professional and personal life.

Joe was preceded in death by his sisters Helen Leshock Molnar, Philadelphia, PA, Malvina Leshock, Shamokin, PA, and his brothers John Leshock, Shamokin, PA, and Dr. Leon Leshock, Palmerton, PA. Additionally, Joe was preceded in death by two of his children, John Francis Leshock, 01/04/1967 and Therese Carol Leshock, 03/31/1972.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers or other remembrances, please donate to Cristo Rey Community Center (www.cristoreycommunity.org), a charity at the heart of Joseph and Terry Leshock’s lifetime of work in the greater Lansing area, or to St. Thomas Aquinas School (www.stthomasaquinasparishschool.org/donate) located in East Lansing, MI, where all 9 of their children were educated

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