Janice E. Leonard

Janice Elaine (Buckley) Leonard, the third of eight children born to Eleanor Sears and Raymond Buckley on March 2, 1935 in the legendary North End of Keene, NH, died peacefully with her daughter by her side, on December 11, 2019 at the Genesis Keene Center after a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease.

Janice was educated locally, attending Roosevelt Elementary School, Franklin Junior High School and Keene High School all located at the time on Washington Street in Keene. As a young teenager, Janice was a member of the Keene Drum and Bugle Corp and as a young adult, she aspired to follow in the footsteps of her grandmother, Nellie Buckley Schubert, and attended nursing school in Manchester, NH at the former Elliott School of Nursing.

A young single mother of two, Janice prided herself on supporting her children without government assistance and she worked three jobs simultaneously in order to do so. She proudly worked as a salesperson for The Vogue women’s clothing store on Main Street and under the tutelage of Mrs. Florence Lipsky she became very fashionably conscious. One never saw her with a hair out of place or without a beautifully tailored suit or dress along with matching jewelry, color coordinated gloves, high heels and purse. Simultaneously, she worked nights as a waitress at the Town Diner and as a cashier at Grand Union Supermarket where she quickly rose to the full time position of head bookkeeper. She held that job for 19 years. Janice became the face of Grand Union during this period of time, being the very first person who greeted you in her office cubicle just inside the main front door. After Grand Union, she continued her career as head bookkeeper for Homestead Woolen Mills, and also devoted over 24 years attending to the books of the Bethel Bible Church in Surry.

In 1959 she married Willard F. Leonard of West Swanzey. Together they purchased a home on Dover Street in Keene and began W.F. Leonard Construction Company specializing in backhoe and excavation work. Sadly, Bill passed away on his 43rd birthday, January 12, 1980 from pancreatic cancer.

In 1970 it was apparent that Janice’s true calling had arrived with the birth of her first grandchild, Danna Lesli and soon followed by the next five loves of her life, Devan, Denell, Daryn, Dean and Jordan. Her grandchildren boast that she was the best grandmother in the whole wide world, especially given her kitchen pantry full of candy jars emulating a true old fashioned candy store and refrigerator that she kept packed with fruity wine coolers which she did not realize contained alcohol, and upon request, purchased regularly each week for her then teenaged granddaughters.

Janice is predeceased by her parents; her husband Willard (Bill) Leonard; her siblings, Patricia Ames, Maxine Lambert, Philip Buckley, Fred Buckley, Michael Buckley and Karn Burnham.

Janice is survived by her children, Donald Blake, Dru Fox and husband, Barry Fox, of Keene; her grandchildren, Danna Rivera of Florida, Devan Wollan of California, Daryn Blake of North Carolina, Denell Wallace of Washington State, Dean Fox of Minnesota and Jordan Blake of Tennessee; her siblings, Robert Buckley of Keene, Wayne Buckley of Manchester, and Kym Burnham and Kell Burnham of Keene. She is also survived by 12 great-grandchildren; numerous nieces and nephews especially her very favorite nephew, Chairman of the State of New Hampshire Democratic Party, Raymond Buckley, of Manchester, whom she was the most proud of.

A special heartfelt thank you from the family to her angel, Erica Durfee, all the RN’S and too numerous to name LNA’s who cared for her for over five years at Genesis Keene Center. Special appreciation to Laura, Colleen, Rayleen and Chaplain Chris from Compassus Hospice Care who were lovingly there by her side every day this past year.

There will be no calling hours. Services will be private.