Leyland

On Friday, Aug. 16, Emily Louise Leyland, 31, of Butler passed away after a two-and-a-half-year battle with Leukemia, surrounded by her family and loved ones in her childhood home.

Em was born on April 29, 1982, in Butler to Hank and Terry Oesterling Leyland. She is the granddaughter of Harry and Louise Leyland and Joe and Martha Oesterling. She is an older sister to Trevor and his wife, Christy, and Levi, Calvin and Kearsten. Emily is survived by her fiance, Josh Greynolds.

Emily grew up as a dancer, practicing her craft at Lee’s School of Dance side-by-side with her cousins and under the eye of her mother. She would later return as an instructor after dancing competitively. She was a talented athlete, high jumping on the track and field team and as a Sequinette — carrying on a Leyland tradition — at Butler High before graduating as a member of the Class of 2000.

But the arts may have been where she shined the brightest. She attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, where she studied interior design.

Emily worked at W. Rick’s Taproom and Grille and was employed as an interior designer at Cabinet World. Em had a knack for crafting, even working on homemade gifts for her family while in the hospital.

Emily’s life revolved around her family. Her greatest treasure was being an aunt to her goddaughter, Isla, and her nephews, Braylon, Orion and Willem. She had a warm smile that had a way of drawing in and putting at ease those closest to her. Em dealt with her illness with a quiet but fierce determination that inspired those who were blessed to be near her.

LEYLAND — Friends of Emily Louise Leyland, who died Friday, Aug. 16, 2013, will be received at the Martin Funeral Home Inc., 429 Center Ave., Butler, from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday and from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday.

The bereavement group of St. Michael the Archangel parish will meet at the funeral home at 3 p.m. Sunday to conduct a scriptural wake service. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make donations to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at www.lls.org or to the Mario Lemieux Foundation at www.mariolemieux.org.

For more information, visit www.martinfh.net.