Nancy L. Basile

Nancy Lee Basile was born January 14, 1952, the spoiled youngest daughter of James and Dorene Basile. In the time between her birth and death on July 2, 2021, she did a lot of things, but the most important to her was being a mother to both her human and canine children. Nancy married Douglas Leach on March 16, 1974. They had two children: Kyrsten on December 26, 1975 (Nancy would always joke that Kyrsten could thank her for delaying her birth for 1 day to avoid Christmas), and Dean on March 31, 1980 (just a few days shy of Easter thanks, again, to Nancy and her tremendous efforts). Nancy began working at the Monroe County Intermediate School District in 1984 and spent 26 years there, retiring in 2010. While at the MCISD, Nancy made many life-long friends. At this time, while still working and raising teenagers, Nancy began volunteering for Stepping Stones, where she discovered a love for horses. Nancy perfected her ability to fall off of a horse and execute a perfect roll during these years. Everyone who witnessed it commented on that fantastic talent. Once she got the falling mastered, however, she became an avid horsewoman and very much enjoyed her time on her favorite horse, Nick. Nancy also learned how to work with stained glass, making many gifts for friends and family. After retiring, Nancy volunteered for the Knights of Columbus, serving dinner at Friday fish fries and lunch on Thursdays. She also crocheted hundreds of blankets for babies, which were donated to the VFW, the hospital, local churches as well as the MCISD. Nancy helped serve dinners at Trinity Lutheran Church. In her retirement, she also made sure to have regular dinners with her treasured friends from MCISD. Nancy was the kind of mother who woke her kids up to watch West Side Story at 1:00 a.m. and blasted “Whipping Post” by the Allman Brothers, teaching her kids all of the words and necessary head bobbing to accompany the music. Nancy was known for her excellent cooking, for the bread and gigantic Christmas meatballs that she made every year (One was enough for most. Her son-in law, however required a minimum of five) and for her readiness to feed an army should one ever pass-through town. She was happy to feed anyone wanting or needing it. Nancy was the kind of Grandmother who taught her grandchildren how to play War (and didn’t let them win) and always brought a bag of twizzlers whenever she came to see them. She was the grandmother who made chicken noodle soup on request and, over the years, added more and more and more noodles because her granddaughter loved them. By the end, it was less soup and more pasta with chicken and carrots. Nancy was the kind of grandmother that taught her grandchildren how to handle serious competition. Nancy and her granddaughter, Carolina, teamed up at every Basile family reunion, playing a cutthroat game of water balloon toss, dead set on winning, but never managing to win. Nancy was a dog lover who loved big dogs and VERY big dogs. Despite her affinity for the big, slobbery canines, she was dog mom to an impressive range of dogs, from her beloved Bassett Hound Georgia to her Cane Corsos Jake, Ava and Carmen, to her Pitbull Capone, her St. Bernard Chotze and her Doberman Baby. Nancy is survived by her daughter, Kyrsten (John) Niemiec, grandchildren Carolina and Carter Niemiec, sister Linda (Larry) Richter as well as many nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins and members of her former husband’s family. Nancy was greeted in heaven by her son, Dean Leach, her parents, James and Dorene Basile, and her brothers Christopher Basile and John Basile. A memorial is planned for August 14, 2021, from 3:00-7:00 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus located at 202 W. Front Street, Monroe, Michigan. Memorial donations in Nancy’s memory may be made to DogAide and BarkNation.