Teaching agriculture and farming all the while loving the Lord is the path that led Pastor Roger Leach to found Valley West Christian Center.
The Madera Chamber of Commerce Senior Farmer of the Year Ken Leach is the pastor’s beloved uncle. He fondly calls him Uncle K.O. for Kenneth Orville — or like knockout, he said.
The Leach clan once all lived on the property they farmed in the Dixieland area. Living on Avenue 17 and Road 16, Roger grew up with his cousin Tim Leach as close as a brother. They roomed together his freshman year at Fresno State. Tim was a sophomore then, and pledged the agriculture fraternity Alpha Gamma Rho, Roger said.
After teaching at Mount San Antonio College and Merced College, Roger left the classroom behind and came back to Madera to farm his late father Gerald’s holdings in 1978. He had a debilitating heart attack, Roger said. “Dad talked about selling his ranch and land prices were too low to be practical,” he said...