Margaret Leaf

Margaret Joann Leaf passed away on September 15, 2025, in Lincoln, at the age of 86 after a full and active life.
A celebration of life will be held at 1 p.m., Monday, September 22, 2025, at Eastmont Living, 6325 O Street, Lincoln, Nebraska. Inurnment will be at a later date.
Joann, as she was known to all, was born to Henry and Marguerite (Cotten) Grudzinski on December 21, 1938, in Aurora. She attended Aurora Public Schools, worked at the creamery near her home and then at the hotel as an operator, and enjoyed her friends and activities. 
Eventually, Joann moved to Kearney, where she met Gordon Leaf of Brady. They were married in Aurora on November 10, 1962, and celebrated 62 years of marriage last fall. The couple made their home and raised their family in Kearney, but their honeymoon to Denver, CO, sparked a love of Colorado and the Rocky Mountains they would share for more than six decades.
In addition to being a busy mother and homemaker, Joann worked for 20 years at Kearney Senior High School as a secretary in the guidance office. She enjoyed summer vacations with her family to destinations including Mt. Rushmore, Disneyland, and Memphis, always followed by a week of camping in the Poudre or Big Thompson Canyon. 
After retiring in 1992, Joann and her husband moved to Divide, CO, where they had built a log house on 20 acres in the Rocky Mountains. After 30 years of living their retirement dream, including several winters in Casa Grande, AZ, they moved to Brookdale Skyline Independent Living Facility in Colorado Springs, CO, and then in 2024 to Eastmont Living in Lincoln, to be closer to family. 
Joann was a decades-long member of Faith United Methodist Church in Kearney, and then Mountain View United Methodist Church in Woodland Park, CO. She and her husband continued to view the MVUMC televised services after moving to Lincoln. 
Without blood donations, Joann and her loved ones would not have had the extended years they shared, including the births of three great-grandchildren. Memorials may be arranged in the form of blood donation or financial gifts at www.ncbb.org/support-us/ .
Joann was preceded in death by her parents and three brothers (Max, Richard, and Robert). 
Left to cherish her memory are her husband Gordon of Lincoln; sister Karen (and David) Heckman of Lincoln; daughter Sandra Rooney of Bentonville, AR; son Jeffery (and Annie) Leaf of Lincoln; four grandchildren McKinsey (and Patrick) Dooley, Kerstin (and Trevan) Ainsworth, Casey Rooney, Kenna (and Nick Caputo) Rooney; and three great-grandchildren. She will be missed by her extended family and the many friends she gathered over the years.