BRADY, TX—JUNE 6, 2020—Graveside services will be held at 1:00 p.m. (CDT), Sunday (June 7) at Rest Haven Cemetery in Brady, Texas for William F. Leach, 88, of Brady. Joe Johnson will officiate.

Leach passed away on Thursday (June 4). He was born in Fredonia, Texas to William Foster Leach, Sr., and Lois (Bratton) Leach on June 16, 1931. He married Jeanne Awbrey on June 23, 1980, in Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico.

He graduated in 1948 from Brady High School. His interests included F.F.A., basketball, baseball, and choral. He served in the Army and was awarded the National Defense Medal. In 1966 Bill started training horses at Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico. He trained both quarter horses and thoroughbreds.

Bill was successful at various tracks throughout Texas, in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and others. He was named leading trainer at Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico, for several years during the 80’s.

He trained the Quarter Horse earners of more than $2 million, led by champion Easily Smashed, whom he also co-bred and co-owned. Bill also trained the Thoroughbred earners of more than $7 million.

Officially retired from horse training in 2008, Bill continued to pursue owning, breeding, and racing horses. As one of the highlights to his career, in 2016, he was inducted into the Ruidoso Racehorse Hall of Fame.

Bill is preceded in death by three sisters and their husband: Kathleen Enger and Howell Cobb, Lois Marie and Myrick H. Carson, Sr., and Mary Elizabeth and Johnny Wayne Jones, Sr. Bill is survived by his wife, Jeanne Leach.

He is also survived by two nieces, Virginia Gleaton and Susan Jones, and by four nephews, Mike Carson, Johnny Jones, Bill Carson, and Robert Cobb. The Leach, Bratton, and Awbrey families offer many additional surviving relatives.

Family has requested to make donations to Ruidoso Downs Racetrack Chaplaincy, P.O. Box 449, Ruidoso Downs, NM 88346. Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Heritage Funeral Home of Brady.