Jeanne Marie Spicer

With her loving husband by her side, Jeanne Marie Spicer, age 71, passed away on September 20, 2022, after a brief and sudden illness battling an aggressive cancer. Jeanne was born on August 22, 1951, in Evanston, Illinois, the daughter of William Edgar Spicer, Jr., and Helen Gloria Stefanowicz, who predeceased her. She graduated from the University of Iowa with a Master’s degree in Library Science and spent most of her career at Penn State University; she retired from her position as a programmer in Penn State’s Population Research Institute.

Jeanne married Thomas (Tim) Joseph Leso on November 27, 1976, in McLean, Virginia. She and her family lived in the State College area of Pennsylvania for more than 40 years and recently moved to Atlanta, Georgia, to be close to their son and his family.

A woman of many talents, Jeanne enjoyed traveling the world (particularly her excursions to Maine), reading, cooking, cycling, knitting, gardening, mastering crosswords, attending the theater, and playing the ukulele. One of her and her husband’s cherished accomplishments was cycling at least 20 miles in all 50 states, paired with sampling regional craft brews. Her treasured friendships, old and new, grew from shared interests in technology, music, literature, and spirituality, to name a few.

Jeanne is survived by her husband Tim Leso, her son Mickey S. Leso, his wife Kajal Patel, and Jeanne’s newest, favorite person in the whole world, her grandson Luka. She leaves behind her adored nieces and nephews, Mike, Christa, John, Scott, Ian, and Lydia, in addition to her sister, two brothers-in-law, her sister-in-law, and beloved pup Pippa.

“Once you are real you can’t become unreal again. It lasts for always.”

- Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit

A celebration of life is being planned at a later date. In lieu of flowers or other condolences, please consider a donation in Jeanne’s memory to one of the organizations she supported:

Atlanta Area:

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta

www.uuca.org/jeannespicer  

Path Foundation

www.pathfoundation.org/donate-to-path

Georgia Public Broadcasting

www.gpb.org/support

WABE (Atlanta’s public radio station)

www.wabe.org  

State College Area:

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Centre County

www.uufcc.com/give-online

WPSU (public media for Central PA)

www.wpsu.psu.edu/donate/pledge

Tides

www.tidesprogram.org