LEONARD

Marlene Goldman Leonard, a former public school teacher, community leader and legislative advocate, died on July 24, 2019, at Heartlands Assisted Living Center in Ellicott City. The former Columbia, Maryland resident was 75.

Born in Baltimore on March 30, 1944, she was the daughter of Aaron and Katherine Goldman (nee Klatzkin). She was a 1962 graduate of Milford Mill High School and received a Bachelor of Science degree in education in 1966 from Towson State College.

Marlene taught second and sixth grades in central and eastern Pennsylvania in the late 1960s. She lived in upstate New York from 1972 through 1980 before moving back to Maryland. It was in Columbia, Maryland that she engaged in extensive volunteer work. She served as president of the Howard County Chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women and served the Maryland NCJW as liaison to the Maryland State Legislature. She was a graduate of the Maryland Legacy Leadership Institute on Public Policy at the University of Maryland and a passionate advocate with Marylanders Against Handgun Abuse. In 1994, she was a founding member of the Maryland Legislative Agenda for Women, and she was active in the Howard County League of Women Voters.

She is survived by her husband of 53 years, David Leonard; daughters Marcia Leonard and Jennifer Leonard Schaeffer; son-in-law Adam Schaeffer; grandchildren Nathaniel and Samantha Schaeffer; and sister Linda Litofsky. She was preceded in death by brothers Gerald and Larry Goldman.

A graveside service for family and friends will be held at the Columbia Memorial Park in Clarksville on July 26. Please omit flowers. Contributions in her memory may be sent to Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, 100 Painters Mill Road, Suite 800, Owings Mills, MD 21117. In mourning at her former residence, 4159 Lotus Circle, Ellicott City, MD 21043, on Friday, with an evening service at 6 p.m. Shiva will continue on Sunday, July 28, from 2-5 p.m. at 3000 Stonecliff Drive, #209, Baltimore, MD 21209.