Obituary of Alexia Leblanc

Alexia Debbie LeBlanc was born in Layou, Dominica, on April 7, 1959, to Leo B. and Alix M. James. What the happy parents did not know that Tuesday morning was that their pretty baby girl was born with a heart murmur. The murmur practically defined Alexia's young life, and by the time she was 18, she had open heart surgery in England to address her condition. Notwithstanding the surgical procedure, Alexia continued to be plagued by various maladies - mostly of the heart - resulting in more open heart surgery, and the eventual insertion of a pace maker. But even while she continued to be buffeted by her ailments, Alexia lived as normal a life as possible. In her native Dominica, she was a competent lab technician. In her free time, she honed her needlework skills to such an extent that her crocheting brought her the respect and admiration of many. Indeed, her legacy will live on through the many lace doilies she crocheted during her life. Upon her migration to the United States to join her parents and siblings in 1987, Alexia at first continued to work as a lab technician, but subsequently gave that up to become a childcare worker, caring for disabled children at the Cardinal Hayes Home for Children in Millbrook, New York. It was while Alexia was thus employed that her co-workers observed that while she could recall with much clarity events of the distant past, her short-term memory was severely deficient. It did not take long for her doctors to opine that she was suffering from some form of dementia - either Alzheimer's disease or vascular dementia. She spent the rest of her relatively short life warding off the effects of the disease. Through those years, to the extent she could remember anything and entertain guests and visitors, she was strengthened and encouraged by the Elder and members of the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, 30 Manchester Circle, Poughkeepsie, New York, of which she was a member. She departed this life on Thursday, December 18, 2014, at the tender age of 55. Alexia leaves to mourn her passing her parents, Leo B. and Alix M. James; daughters, Michelle, Olympia, and Bertine; ex-husband, John; siblings, Patricia, Leonie, Marina, Valerie, Leoma, Fred, Vaughn, Martin, Laurel, and Matthew; aunts, Monica, Germina, Josette, Amoy, and Jacqueline; uncles, Oliver, Ignatius and Bernard; and many other relatives and friends, too numerous to list here. Viewing will be at the Timothy P. Doyle Funeral Home, 371 Hooker Ave., Poughkeepsie, New York, from 9:00am to 9:45 a.m. on Saturday, December 27, 2014. The funeral service will begin at the same location at 10:00 a.m. Interment will follow at the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery. If you would like to leave a online condolence please visit www.doylefuneralhome.com