Elsie T. Leaptrot

Mrs. Elsie T. Leaptrot, of Newport News, Virginia, passed away peacefully in her sleep on February 24, 2024 after a brief illness at Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News, VA. She was 91.

Elsie, or Sugar as she was known to her grandchildren, was born in Savannah, Georgia to the late Edwin W. Thorpe and Carrie G. Thorpe. After attending Armstrong College and Wittenburg College in Springfield, Ohio, she married Lt. Brinson Nash Leaptrot in February 1958 and began the life of an officer’s wife, and mother, moving around the world every 3 years or so. Upon Nash’s retirement from the Air Force, the family resettled in Hampton, Virginia, where they resumed attending Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, and Elsie worked in Gloria Dei’s school as a teacher’s aide. After the passing of her husband, Nash, in 1982, she joined Harrison and Lear, Inc. as a Property Manager managing the Fox Croft Apartments in Hampton, Virginia. After retirement from property management, she moved to the Mennowood Retirement Community in Newport News, Virginia, where she spent the last 20 years.

She is survived by her children, Kristin and husband Tom Zarrella, and Kevin Leaptrot, as well as her five grandchildren, Lauren, Casey, Nash, Suzanne, and Paul, and nieces Leigh (Chris) Larmoyeux and Erin (John) Towers, and nephew Eric (Ellen) Thorpe.

Elsie will be buried alongside her beloved husband, Nash, at Arlington National Cemetery with a graveside service at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please consider honoring her memory with a donation to Mennowood Foundation, 13030 Warwick Blvd, Newport News, VA 23602 or Gloria Dei Lutheran Church and School, 250 Fox Hill Rd, Hampton, VA 23669.

Funeral arrangements are under the direction of W. J. Smith and Son Funeral Home.