Carol Lee (Bratcher) Heffley passed away on Easter Sunday, April 5, 2026. She was born in Leitchfield, KY on March 27, 1940 to John Edward and Gladys (Lee) Bratcher. She was their first child and the first grandchild born on “Lee’s Hill,” something of which she was so proud.
Graduating from Leitchfield High School in 1958, she was a Bulldog through and through. She went on to attend and graduate from Murray State University in 1961 as a Registered Nurse, going on to become part of the University of Kentucky nursing team, where she scrubbed in on the very first surgery performed at UK Hospital.
Later on she would lead the nursing staff at JCT Hospital in Greensburg, KY. It was there that her hospital board chair and mentor, EJ Milby, introduced her to a lumber salesman he had become close with. Setting up an encounter at his lumber company on April 1, 1965, Carol Lee was introduced to Patrick Heffley. After a first date that evening, they were married just 4 months later that August.
She and Pat would go on to share many adventures, always living throughout Kentucky, having two children along the way in Bowling Green and Louisville. Eventually, they were led back home to Leitchfield,
An avid basketball fan, Carol Lee was a fervent supporter of her Leitchfield Bulldogs, Grayson County Cougars, UK Wildcats, or any team she could find some thread of a personal connection. She was a sister of Zeta Chi and a lifelong member of Leitchfield United Methodist Church, where her unwavering faith in Christ drove her to serve His flock in the church and the community.
Carol Lee was preceded in death by her husband Patrick Heffley and is survived by a sister, Martha (Fred) Faulkner, brother John Kenneth Bratcher and sister-in-law Anita Bratcher, her children Holly Russell, Lee and Kendra Heffley, grandchildren Ryan (Hayley) Russell, Reyna Russell, Harper Lee Heffley and Hope Heffley, two great grandchildren Patrick and Luke Russell, and many cousins that were much more than that to her, they are her additional brothers and sisters.
Funeral services will be held at Leitchfield United Methodist Church (201 W. Main Street, Leitchfield, KY 42754) on Friday, April 10th at 11 AM, with visitation beginning at 10 AM. Pastor Jordan Hunter will be officiating. Burial will follow at Fair View Cemetery.
Visitation will be at the Leitchfield United Methodist Church on Thursday, April 9th from 4-7 PM, during which an open house meal will be served in the Church basement. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Dermitt Funeral Home.
Patrick and Carol Lee moved to Beehive Homes of Leitchfield in January 2025, where they have been lovingly cared for by Bailee Roberson and her tremendous team. We want to thank them for making us feel like family. We also want to thank Hosparus Health of Central Kentucky for their loving care and support.
In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Fair View Cemetery, PO Box 396, Leitchfield KY 42755. But if you really want to give in her memory, do just one thing for someone else – any act of kindness from an uplifting visit, call, or especially a greeting card that would brighten someone’s day.
