John Edward Leslie

John Edward Leslie passed away to eternal life the morning of September 17, 2024. He was surrounded by his loving family, wife, Jane; son, Michael and wife, Katie; and daughter, Hannah and husband, Ruben at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. He was 69 years old.

Born on October 17, 1954 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin to Edward and Gertrude Leslie, John spent his childhood growing up in Manitowoc and attended Lincoln High School, where he enjoyed many extra-curricular activities. Some he enjoyed most were band, playing alto saxophone and performing with the Peter Quince Theatre. He was class president his senior year and graduated in 1972.

John attended Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin. He was a member of the Delta Rho Upsilon fraternity and continued playing alto saxophone in both the marching and jazz bands while at Carroll. He received the Junior Award, awarded to an outstanding junior student, and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BS in Political Science in 1976. While at Carroll he met Jane McDonald, who would later become his wife of 45 years.

He attended graduate school at the University of Notre Dame where he received his law degree and MBA. While he was at Notre Dame, he played alto saxophone with the university's jazz band. He received the Steve Calonje Jazz Award for outstanding contributions to jazz at Notre Dame. He married Jane on August 4, 1979. They later had three children, Jonathan (1985), Michael (1988) and Hannah (1993). He graduated from Notre Dame in May, 1980.

He began his career at Touche Ross in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After several years, John and Jane began their trek to Texas when John received an offer from Cotton, Bledsoe, Tighe and Dawson in Midland, Texas in 1982. John began doing tax work and later moved into the area of bankruptcy. The couple spent three years in Midland and relocated to Arlington, Texas upon John accepting a position with Shannon, Gracey, Ratliff and Miller in Fort Worth, Texas in 1985 as a bankruptcy attorney. John soon became a partner with the law firm and worked in their Dallas office. John spent many years with several different law firms in Dallas where he practiced mostly bankruptcy and business law. He was active with the Recovery Resource Council as a Board member for many years. He was also active with several Dallas lawyer support groups, as well as numerous other lawyer groups in the metroplex. In addition to his professional organizations, he remained involved coaching and assisting with his sons' sports activities. John also felt a calling to speak with youth and young adults in the community about the effects of alcohol and drug use. Tragedy struck the family in 2001 when a car accident took the life of the couple's oldest son, Jonathan. At that time, John made the decision to move his practice to Arlington and become a sole practitioner. His practice remained in Arlington until his death.

John was a long time member of First United Methodist Church in Arlington, where he was an usher for many years, served on the Finance committee and was a member of the Lamplighter Sunday school class. He also participated in the Arlington men's BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) group for the past ten years.

John held his family and friends very close, enjoyed traveling and was an avid sports fan. His favorite teams were the Green Bay Packers, Dallas Stars and of course, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. He had a lifelong interest in politics, became very engaged in election law and was involved with several of the last presidential elections. Both he and Jane attended the Inauguration of George W. Bush in 2005.

He was preceded in death by his father, Edward Leslie and mother, Gertrude Leslie; his brother, Dr. Edward Leslie; his sister, Patricia Lowther; his uncle, John Ullrich; aunts, Doris Ullrich and Lucille Cobb; cousins, John Ullrich, Jim Cobb and John Cobb; niece, Leslie Ann Lowther; son, Jonathan Leslie; father-in-law, Jim McDonald; and sister-in-law, Mary McDonald.

Survivors include his loving and caring wife, Jane Leslie; son, Michael Leslie and daughter-in-law, Katie Leslie; grandchildren Jackson Leslie and Emma Kate Leslie; daughter, Hannah Hanssen and son-in-law, Ruben Hanssen; mother-in-law, Ellie McDonald; sister-in-law, Diane Leslie; nephews, Edward Leslie, Daniel Leslie, John Leslie and Michael Leslie; nieces, Meghan Fitzgerald, Anne Vonesh, and Kate Zimlich; brother-in-law, Thomas Lowther; nephew, Tommy Lowther; cousins, Lucy Heyman, David Ullrich and Ellie Ullrich; and his "best dog friend," Ike.

A celebration of John's life will be held on Saturday, November 23 at 4:00 p.m. at First United Methodist Church in Arlington, Texas.

The family wishes to thank the outstanding doctors, nurses and staff at UT Southwestern Medical Center who cared for John throughout the last months of his life. John's body was donated to the medical school at UT Southwestern. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to UT Southwestern Medical Center, P.O. Box 910888, Dallas, Texas 75391-0888 or online at https://engage.utsouthwestern.edu/donate-now to support cardiac research.