MARIA BLANCA LEAKE,
née Cebado, born Jan. 8, 1932, died Sunday, April 14, 2024, at the age of 92, of natural causes. She was preceded in death by her parents Agustin and Esperanza, and her siblings Manuel, Esperanza, Agustin, Enrique, Gloria,
Ileana, and her beloved husband Dennis.
Maria was born in Mexico City and attended Maddox Academy. As a young girl she loved to dance traditional Mexican folk dances and perform skits in elaborate costumes. She worked for the Coca-Cola Company as an Executive Secretary and modeled in Coke advertisements before her marriage to Dennis Leake, an Englishman also working for Coca-Cola who met Blanca on a business trip to Mexico.
Blanca became a naturalized British citizen before traveling the world with her husband. Dennis’s work took them to the Far East, and their young and growing family lived in Australia, the Philippines, and Japan. Blanca and Dennis moved to the United States and settled in Atlanta, Ga., upon their retirement in 1990.
Upon Dennis’s passing in 1992, Blanca moved to Little Rock in 2003 to be near her eldest son, Stephen, and his family. She was a faithful parishioner of Christ the King Catholic Church. She became a US citizen in 2005. She was involved in charitable causes, particularly for cancer, as she herself was a two-time breast cancer survivor.
Blanca loved her family and her Lord fiercely. She possessed and radiated an uncommon grace.
She is survived by her children Stephen (63), Mark (61), Paul (60), Denise (56), and Peter (52), as well as her grandchildren, Michael (29), Paul (27), Stephanie (26), Nicola (26), Ileana (26), Thomas (24), Nina (23), Anna-Blanca (22), James (22), Leyla (22), and Isabella (21).
A Mass of Christian Burial will be 2 p.m. Friday, April 26, 2024, at Christ the King Catholic Church, Little Rock. A visitation will be Thursday, April 25, 2024, from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm, Christ the King.
The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, those so inclined make a contribution to their favorite charity in Blanca’s name.
To sign the online guest book, please visit, www.rollerfuneralhomes.com/chenal.