Amy Lyn Deakin

​Amy Lyn Deakin, 43, of Fort Walton Beach, Florida (Formerly of Elmira, Michigan) passed away on Thursday, November 15, 2018 at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, Florida in the presence of family.
 
Amy was born December 21, 1974 in Royal Oak, Michigan, daughter to Dennis and Kathleen Leysen.  Her family moved to Northern Michigan in 1980.  She attended Mancelona schools and graduated high school in 1992.  She enjoyed playing softball, golf, snowmobiling, downhill skiing and riding her dirt bike. 
 
She started working in the food industry as a busser and dishwasher when she was still in high school.  After high school she worked at several Northern Michigan restaurants:  Settings Restaurant, Dockside, and Bellaire Golf Club.  She worked her way up the ladder to the point that she and her future husband, Thom, opened Sneakin’s Roadhouse in Eastport, Michigan.  After a number of years, they sold Sneakin’s.  Sneakin’s had become a favorite place for locals and others. 
 
After their marriage in 2001, Amy became a very successful general manager at two very large chain restaurants and won numerous awards.  She moved to the panhandle of Florida where she worked to perfect her profession at several different golf country clubs; and affording her the opportunity to become a master chef at a large and popular Destin restaurant, O’Quigley’s.  This is where Amy fulfilled her calling in life through the joy of developing recipes that kept patrons coming back over and over and making many great friends.  Her career was her life!
 
Amy passed away doing what she loved and will always be remembered as a kind and giving person who loved to laugh.  Her passion for giving will continue to live through her culinary creations for everyone to enjoy.  She was an amazing chef and will be greatly missed by all she touched in her short life.
 
Amy’s love for dogs included her golden retriever, Bogey, and her labrador retriever, Riley.  Her love for dogs can be honored with donations to Ruff, Rescuing Unwanted Furry Friends, a no kill shelter located in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.  Donations can be made by either a phone call to 850-863-7833 or via website at www.911ruff.org. 
 
Amy was preceded in death by her maternal grandparents, Stanley and Josephine Konsky; and paternal grandparents, Raymond and Mary Leysen; and aunt, Linda Leysen.
 
She is survived by her parents, Dennis and Kathleen Leysen; her brother, Michael Leysen;  husband, Thom Deakin; aunts and uncles, John Leysen, Jim (Alice) Leysen, Nancy Konsky; cousins, Gretchen (Chad) Brown, Kristen Vermeylen, Matthew Vermeylen, Lee Konsky  and special niece, Ashley Down. 
 
O’Quigley’s Restaurant will have a celebration of life sometime the first week of December.  Please, check Facebook or O’Quigley’s website for details. 

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