Golden Joy "Goldie" "Joyce" Whitfield Osborne Lease

Golden Joy Whitfield Osborne “Goldie” “Joyce” Lease, 82, passed away on Tuesday, February 13, 2018 at the Lafayette Health Care Center in Mayo.  She was born in O’Brien, Florida to the late Clyde Leroy and Edna Lee Alderman Whitfield.  In Joyce’s early part of life her parents and family lived in the San Francisco, California area.  One of Joyce’s first jobs was a clerk in a grocery store.  She later opened the “House of Beauty” salon and she also worked with at risk boys which lead to her opening Youth Opportunities Unlimited, (YOU), in Arizona, a youth ranch for troubled boys.  There were ten homes with approximately eight boys in each home plus house parents.  After selling YOU, Joyce moved back to the O’Brien area to be closer to family.  She earned her real estate license and sold property in Suwannee County and was also a reporter for the Branford news, writing the column, O’Brien Bits.  Joyce was very active in the community, with her church and politics in our area.  She will be greatly missed by her family and friends. 

She was preceded in death by her husband, Lloyd L. Lease, Jr., on January 29, 2018 at the Tampa Lakes Health and Rehabilitation Center in Tampa.  Also preceding her was her first husband and father of her three children, Norm Osborne; two sons, Bobby Osborne and Mark Osborne; one grandson, John Asphes; one sister, Ester Lee Cuykendall; and two brothers, Robert Stanley Whitfield and Wesley Luther Whitfield. 

Survivors include her daughter, Catherine Osborne Gillispie Alubaid (Ahmad); one grandson, Joshua Gillispie; two sisters, Neomi Ruth Combs and Darlene Laura Van Dam (Don); two brothers, Clyde Leroy “Chic” Whitfield, Jr (Glendee) and Cecil Paul “Dave” Whitfield; and many loving nieces and nephews. 

Graveside memorial services for Mr. and Mrs. Lease will be held on Saturday, March 3, 2018 at 1:00 PM at the O’Brien Cemetery in O’Brien, Florida.  In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the O’Brien Cemetery at PO Box 184, O’Brien, FL 32071. 

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