Jo Leidemer

Leslie Jo Leidemer, 50, passed away Dec.25, 2014-her favorite day of the year-at Centra Virginia Baptist Hospital in Lynchburg, Virginia, after a long battle with cancer. A resident of Lynch Station, Virginia, she spent nearly 30 years in the corporate travel industry at companies including Rosenbluth International and American Express. The Charlottesville, Virginia, native had recently retired as a manager of business development for American Express Business Travel.

Jo was a master dinner-party planner, a fierce card shark, a hopeful Christmas-tree farmer and mandolin player, a shoe addict, an aspiring interior decorator, a dog whisperer, a Jeopardy whiz and an endlessly compassionate and selfless individual. Her passions included animals of all kinds, from pileated woodpeckers to Havanese; world travels with her husband; and a very particular view of the Peaks of Otter in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

She was preceded in death by her mother, Barbara Clements Staples, and is survived by her loving husband, Henry (Marty) Leidemer; her stepdaughter, Catherine Leidemer; her four-legged sidekick, Ty; the Leidemer and Burns families; her father, Kenneth Staples Sr.; her sister, Elizabeth Barber; her brother, Kenneth Staples Jr.; her nieces, Ellen and Elizabeth Barber; numerous additional family members; and countless friends and former colleagues.

The family will gather at Tharp Funeral Home in Bedford, Friday, Jan 2, 2015 from 12:00-2:00 p.m. to remember Jo.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to All-American Mutt Rescue in Huddleston, Virginia, via www.allamericanmuttrescue.org.

To send condolences online please visit www.obituaries.tharpfuneralhome.com. Arrangements by Tharp Funeral Home & Crematory, Bedford, (540) 586-3443.