Mrs. Leila Heard McIntosh

08/07/1937 - 04/22/2018

Obituary For Mrs. Leila Heard McIntosh

Mrs. Leila Heard McIntosh, a resident of Barnegat, NJ and former resident of Lanett, AL, died Sunday, April 22, 2018 at UAB Hospital, Birmingham, AL.

Funeral Services are scheduled for Saturday, April 28, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. from Holy Family Catholic Church, Lanett, AL with Father Gali Balaswamy officiating.

Public Viewing is scheduled for Friday, April 27, 2018 from 1:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at Davis Memorial Mortuary.

In lieu of flowers, please contribute to the charity of her choice, The Stuttering Association for the Young at www.say.org in her memory.

Leila Mae Heard McIntosh was born August 7, 1937 in Chambers County, Alabama to the late Homer and Annie Bell Brooks Heard. She was called home to be with the Lord on Sunday, April 22, 2018 at UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama.

She accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior at a very early age and joined the Mount Hermon Baptist Church in Lanett, Alabama.

Leila was a 1954 graduate of Lanier High School in Lanett, Alabama and was a proud Lion. After high school, she matriculated at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) and received a Degree in Nursing in 1958. She later enrolled in the Education Program and received her B. S. Degree in Elementary Education. She met her husband, Cleophus McIntosh, an engineering student, at Tuskegee and they went on to have a beautiful life together – built a family and enjoyed a happy marriage that lasted 41 years until his untimely death on November 12, 1999.

Mrs. McIntosh dedicated her life to serving others. She began her career as a nurse and then transitioned to the educational field where she spent over 25 years as a teacher at Stony Brook Elementary School in New Jersey and ten years at Elliott Point Elementary School in Florida. She extended her commitment to serving youth as a member of the Black Educators Association of Morris County and the Morris County Branch of the NAACP, among other civic and community organizations.

She joined the Four Seasons at Mirage Retirement Community, Barnegat, New Jersey in 1999 and quickly became an active and highly regarded friend and neighbor who will be dearly missed. She served in the Women’s Club, the Small Faith Bible Group and was a regular attendee at the Clubhouse where she enjoyed aerobic classes and long walks with her neighbors. She also volunteered regularly at the Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin, NJ. When visiting Alabama, she volunteered weekly at EAMC-Lanier Memorial Hospital in Valley.

Leila was a very active member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Barnegat, NJ where she served as an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist, sat on the Parish Council, supported numerous church fundraisers, committees and pilgrimages including the Uganda Ministry, the Rosary Making Committee and the Dusting Angels Committee. When in Lanett, AL, she faithfully attended Holy Family Catholic Church and regularly attended Bible Study at Mount Hermon Baptist Church – her home church. She last attended Bible Study on April 18, 2018.

Leila was also a big sports fan. She loved football, basketball and baseball, influenced in large part by her sons, nephews, nieces and grandchildren. Lanett was her hometown and she looked forward to watching her Alma Mater’s basketball team, the Lanett Panthers, each winter when she visited home. Over the past years, she had the pleasure to attend most of their championship games. She traveled to Jacksonville and Birmingham to their games. She was in attendance at the 2017 and 2018 Championship games in Birmingham where the Panthers won the 2A State Title. She would always say, “My team is great.”

She was a dedicated wife, mother, family member, community member and friend who lived fully with a zest for life. She loved to cook, entertain, attend Broadway shows and most of all she enjoyed shopping and dining at restaurants with family and friends. She was a private person who was fiercely independent. She was a big supporter of young women and their endeavors to become educated and to grow professionally. This commitment to women inspired her induction to Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. She also loved to travel and spent many years during her retirement seeing the world. She visited the Middle East (Jerusalem) and the continents of Africa, Europe, North America and South America.

Mrs. McIntosh was preceded in death by her husband, Cleophus McIntosh; a son, Alexander Renay Barker; siblings, Willie B. Heard, Fred Heard, Luvenia King, Louise Granger, Homer Jack Heard and Otie Que Carlisle; grandson, Alexander Renay Barker, Jr.; nephews, Amos Tolbert, Willie Joe Heard, Jeffery Heard and Willie James Heard; nieces, Lutesia Heard and Catherine H. Calhoun.

A legacy of love is entrusted to her survivors: three devoted and loving sons, Leonardo McIntosh, Cleophus Delano McIntosh and Anthony (Jennie) McIntosh; six grandchildren, Anita Barker (Fred) Warner, Aquinus Griffin, Tameka Ray, Ashley (Carlos) Cannon, Mario McIntosh and Cleophus Maxwell McIntosh; ten great-grandchildren, Aspen Barker, Anfernee Warner, Eden Alexa Barker, Eve Alexandra Barker, Anaya Faith Hodge, Alexia Renee Barker, Ayanna Malia Barker, Alanna Simone Barker, Carson Cannon and Aquinus Washington; nephews, Homer (Mildred) Heard, Bob (Susie) Heard, Fob (Brenda) Heard, Jamie (Janice) Heard and Kim (Paula) Heard; nieces, Vicki Cuthbert, Mikele (Charles) Traylor, LaSha Heard and Tracey (Joe) Kendrick; daughter-in-law, Dorothy Mae Dixon Barker Floyd; sister-in-law, Vera McIntosh (Cleophis) Thompson; and, a host of great-nieces, great-nephews, other relatives and friends.

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