Leigh Noble ... longtime petsitter; at 56

DOVER - Leigh Noble, 56, longtime resident of Rollinsford and Dover, died on Monday, June 23 after a much-too-short battle with metastatic melanoma. Leigh was well-known and beloved in the area for her in-home petsitting business, which she did for more than 25 years across many furry friends and their human counterparts.

For Leigh, living among the furred creatures was far preferable to living among the human ones. She was known for her dog whispering first and foremost; for her wry, dark humor; for her low-need approach to life; for her passion for house plants large, small and in various phases of life and half life; for her lifelong love of reading; for her commitment to the Dover Children's Home and shelter pets; for her ability to create intricate and colorful quilts for anyone she suspected was worthy: neighbors having their first baby across the street, a young couple moving across the country to start post-college life, various and sundry pet owners whom she loved and maybe even some she didn't.

Because of her kindness and generosity toward all pets and humans and her vulnerability due to lifelong anxiety and depression, Leigh was a person whom others wanted to protect and care for in reciprocation. Sometimes she would refuse this help in typical terse Leigh fashion. Other times she would accept it with reluctance and relief. Either mode worked for the many people who loved her and who will now miss her terribly.

Leigh leaves her brother Herb, sister-in-law Jenn, nephews Austin, Mitchell and Logan, two dogs Missy and Sandy, two cats Boris and Camilla, and her many charges to whom she was "Dog Ma" Leigh. There are too many local dogs waiting in vain now for Leigh to arrive at their door to transport them -- given the over-the-top canine enthusiasm at her arrival -- to what must have been doggie utopia.

If there was ever a person who will be met over the rainbow bridge with a great baying and tail-wagging dog party, it is Leigh.