Mary T. Lelewer

December 30, 1932 - May 26, 2019
On the morning of May 26, 2019, Mary Lelewer died peacefully in her sleep at Welbrook of Santa Monica. She was 86.
Born in Greenwich, CT, on December 30, 1932 to Townsend Wainwright and Elizabeth (Treman) Wainwright, she graduated from Westover School in 1950 and from Smith College in 1954. After college, she worked for Young and Rubicam in New York and in 1956 married Stephen Reinhardt, with whom she settled in Los Angeles and had three children. They divorced after nearly 25 years. In 1990, she married Stanley D. Lelewer, with whom she lived happily in their home in Santa Monica until his death in 2013. When her children were young, she was an active volunteer in their schools and in such organizations as the Smith Club of Los Angeles and the LA Master Chorale. In 1980, she joined two friends in starting Cheese & Pasta, a gourmet food shop. After a good run in business, she obtained a teaching credential and very much enjoyed years working as a long-term sub in English at Santa Monica High.
Stylish, generous, intellectually curious, and very sociable, Mary Lelewer was beloved by her many friends. She embraced life. Relentlessly positive, she saw the best in others. A proud and devoted mother, she reveled in time spent with her children and grandchildren. She loved the beach and the view from her Santa Monica condominium. She always looked forward to her annual "Sisters Trip" and extensive travel with Stan. Unflagging in her energy for cultural experiences, she sometimes left companions struggling to stay on their feet during marathon visits to art museums or similar excursions. One uncharacteristic excursion became a family story. In 1969, having been given two joints of marijuana, something unprecedented in her settled middle-class life raising young children, she defied then severe drug laws by carrying the contraband to Europe in her bra so she could try it with the only person to whom she felt she could turn in such circumstances, her mother-in-law. That was a one-off, but other parts of travel became routine. Upon returning from a trip, she would read every page of the newspapers she had missed while away. She loved reading, devouring not only newspapers but serious literature, and enjoyed crossword puzzles, attending the theater, and sipping a good Malbec. She played the piano, occasionally wrote songs, and had a beautiful singing voice, participating for many years in the Master Chorale's Annual Messiah Sing-Along, the Brentwood Palisades Chorale, and finally, as her cognitive abilities waned, a group known as The Fifth Dementia. As her dementia advanced, she retained her graciousness and warmth; her care-givers adored her.
She is survived by her children Mark (Molly Magavern), Justin (Chelsea Hadley), and Dana Reinhardt (Daniel Sokatch); stepchildren Joanne and Kristin Lelewer; grandchildren Simon, Max, Dulce, India, and Miles Reinhardt, Noa and Zoe Sokatch, and Lexa and Zander Harpel.