Shank Served County, W&LAsAttorney
Leanne Marie Shank, former Rockbridge County attorney and Washington and Lee University general counsel, died Dec. 7 at her home in New Hope, Pa.
Shank, who was born in Seattle, Wash., May 18, 1956, earned her law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1985 and entered private practice in Lexington in late 1989 when she joined the Natkin & Heslep law firm.
In 1995, after Bernard Natkin’s retirement, she was named Rockbridge County attorney and also began serving part-time as general counsel at W&L. She left her position as county attorney in 2000 to work full-time for W&L. Between her part-time and full-time roles, she served as W&L’s general counsel for 22 years.
She was the past president of the United Way of Lexington and Rockbridge County, the past president and treasurer of the board of directors for Yellow Brick Road Early Development Education Center, and the past president of Rockbridge Area Health Center.
Shank moved to New Hope in 2017, where she joined the Law School Admission Council as senior vice president of Legal and Corporate Affairs. Over seven years, she built a legal team she was immensely proud of and found deep satisfaction in mentoring younger colleagues, her family said.
She is survived by her husband of 24 years, Don Scott Baker, and three children, Marilyn Jordan Wagner of Yardley, Pa., Patrick Jordan of Cockeysville, Md., and Sidney Baker Stearns of Lexington.
A Mass was held Tuesday, Dec. 16, at St. John the Evangelist Church in Lambertville, N.J.
