M. Darrell Leach

Darrell Leach was born on June 1, 1935. He was the seventh and youngest child of James and Emma (Segebartt) Leach. He was born in Collbran, Colorado. Emma, being rather short and round, none of the older siblings knew that another child was on the way. She told them she was going to visit her sister for a couple of months, and when she returned she had a new baby, Darrell in her arms.
Darrell grew up in De Beque and Fruita, on the Western Slope of Colorado until he was school age. At that time James got a job at Porter Hospital, and the family moved to Denver where Darrell started school at DJA – Denver Jr. Academy. During later elementary and high school years, the family moved back to the Western Slope. Darrell attended Campion Academy his Sophomore, Junior, and first part of his Senior years from 1949-52. Unfortunately, James, his father, had been sick for some time and passed away during that second semester of his Senior year. This necessitated Darrell going home to help his mother and sister by getting a job. Campion is where Darrell met his future wife Ruthie Beans – his "one and only girlfriend" he always said. They met when she was his accompanist in the music department while he was taking voice lessons. The following year, Darrell was able to attend Union College where his romance with Ruthie continued. That spring on April 11, 1953 they were married in Denver, Colorado.
In addition to part-time schooling at Union College, Darrell learned the masonry trade and began working with Chris Christensen Masonry to support his new bride. Not long after, he and Ivan Knopp decided they could do better and make more money by starting their own Masonry business and so they partnered together for the next couple of years. In May of 1956 Darrell and Ruthie had their first child, Rick, who was born in Lincoln, NE.
In 1957 Darrell and Ruthie decided to move to La Sierra, joining Darrell's mother and sister, Edna, who had moved to California not long after James' death. Darrell attended La Sierra College in the mornings and continued his Masonry business building block fences in the afternoons.
In 1958, they decided to move to Canon City, Colorado with Ruthies parents, Grant and Mary Beans. That fall, the Colorado Conference needed a teacher and invited Darrell to teach school in Monte Vista, Colorado where he taught for two years. Teaching became Darrell's passion – whether it was formal school teaching, Sabbath School, or just teaching someone on the construction site. For the rest of his life he viewed each situation as a "teaching moment." In 1960 the Colorado Conference moved Darrell to the Greeley School. He taught in Greeley for two years. During this time their second child, Reggie, was born in May of 1961.
After the 1962 school year, Darrell decided to take a year off and build a house for his brother-in-law Don Beans in Fort Collins. Just as he was finishing that project in 1963, the Colorado Conference called again and invited Darrell and Ruthie to join Harold Williams as the musicians on the Conference evangelism team. Darrell was the singing evangelist, and Ruthie was the organist/accompanist. They toured all over Colorado, holding meetings in an "Air Dome," living in a trailer house and moving every two months to a new location. This started Darrell's "semi-professional singing career." He was often invited to sing at weddings, funerals, and other church events over the next 40 years. Many people have fond memories of Darrell singing at a special event in their lives.
After three years in evangelism, in 1966 Darrell went back into teaching at the Fort Collins Adventist School. He taught there for two years. Then in 1968 he decided to get back into the Construction trade. He worked for Lamoine Pearson of Pearson Masonry for a couple of years before branching out and again starting his own masonry and residential construction business.
In 1972 Darrell decided to find a more rural setting for his family. They found and purchased a cherry orchard on Flathead Lake in Bigfork, Montana. After travelling back and forth between Colorado and Montana for two harvest seasons the family decided to move to Montana full time in 1974. However, after a full northwest style winter of cloudy weather and little or no sunshine, they moved back to sunny Colorado in 1975.
The timing was perfect as Don Beans had another house building project for Darrell on his farm. Don always called Darrell "the best builder west of the Mississippi." And that project launched Darrell back into the Construction business – building custom homes or doing stone, brick, or block masonry – mostly on his own as Leach Construction Specialties, but occasionally working with Lamoine and Pearson Masonry for the next 30 years.
Darrell, Ruthie and family often lived in a newly built home for a few months before selling it and moving on to the next new home that had been completed. However, in 1979, they built a home in north Loveland that they lived in for the next 32 years.
Darrell finally retired from the construction business in 2011. He and Ruthie moved to a Patio Home in Johnstown and enjoyed a more relaxing retirement lifestyle for the next 6 years travelling, visiting family in Minnesota and Arizona and enjoying hosting friends and family at their home.
Darrell went to sleep in Jesus on October 11, 2017. Darrell was the last survivor of the 7 Leach siblings. He was also the last of more than 50 Segebartt first cousins to pass. Darrell is survived by his wife Ruthie; Son Rick; Son and Daughter-in-law Reggie and Kelle; and five grandchildren Nickolas and Nichole; Theron, Thane and Regina. He died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 82.