Leita Hensley

Leita Rose Ballew Hensley, 85, died Monday, Feb. 15, 2016, in her home at Saxony Village.

She was born Jan. 13, 1931, in Jonesboro, Arkansas, to Virgil Ballew and Leita Lorene King Ballew. She married Jack Alton Hensley on Dec. 27, 1957. She was preceded in death by her husband, Jack, on Nov. 14, 2011.

Leita worked for many years at Southeast Missouri State University as a speech and hearing pathologist, both teaching classes and training students to work in the Speech and Hearing Clinic. She earned her bachelor of arts degree from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, her master of arts from the University of Denver and her doctorate from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.

She loved playing bridge and croquet, and she loved traveling, especially to London, where she participated in the Missouri-in-London program and visited multiple times after her retirement. In July 2015 she traveled to Stratford and Niagara-on-the Lake to the Shakespeare and Shaw festivals.

She is survived by a son, Allen Alton Hensley of Crystal Lake, Illinois; a daughter-in-law, Margaret May Hensley; and two grandchildren, Claire and Sylvia Hensley. She also is survived by a daughter, Jeanne Hensley Griggs of Mount Vernon, Ohio; a son-in-law, Ronald Kyle Griggs; and two grandchildren, Eleanor and Walker Griggs.

A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Centenary United Methodist Church, 300 N. Ellis St. in Cape Girardeau.

Flowers may be sent to Centenary or donations can be made to the Southeast Missouri University Foundation for the Jack Hensley Scholarship for Theater and Dance.

Online condolences may be made at www.fordandsonsfuneralhome.com.

Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.