Jeffrey Lee Leavens

1957 - 2024

Jeffrey Lee Leavens, 67, of Milroy, Indiana, passed away peacefully at home Sunday morning, August 4, 2024. Born May 7, 1957, in Newport, Vermont, Jeff lived the hell out of his youth in the Northeast Kingdom as a photographer and artist, a drummer for the band Country Strings, an avid music fan attending numerous concerts at the Forum in Montreal, and a motorcyclist. +He graduated from North Country Union High School in Newport, Vermont, in 1975. Love brought him from the Green Mountain State to the Hoosier State in 1976, after meeting his future wife Kathleen Ann Webb Leavens, who completed a 4-H exchange program with his sister. Jeff rode his motorcycle to Indiana, following Kathy back to his future home and camped in her backyard. From that day forward, he and Kathy built a life and family together, raising three children, all of whom Jeff delivered-the third one single-handedly in a Volkswagen van. Jeff devoted his life to his family, craftsmanship, and the natural world. As young homesteaders, he and Kathy kept busy restoring their 1860s farmhouse while gardening, raising bees, bringing the tradition of maple sugaring to Indiana, and running a small greenhouse business. Jeff worked a long career with Pioneer Seed Company, an occupation that supported his fondness for the outdoors and long country drives. In addition to the outdoors, he loved music, adventures, and learning. +A renaissance man pulling from his roots as a Green Mountain man, he spent time hunting and fly fishing; practicing traditional crafts including woodwork and blacksmithing; and cooking without recipes and baking bread-for the latter, he built a traditional brick oven with his son. After retirement, he enjoyed traveling and hiking with Kathy and their dog Zorro. His later years were characterized by vibrant relationships with his grandchildren, symbolized in just a few ways by the zipline he built for them on his land and Riptide, the gladius sword he forged with his grandson. Jeff is survived by his wife Kathy and three loving children, Sarah Leavens (Mel Mckay) of Pittsburgh, PA; Andrew Leavens of Black Hawk, Colorado; and Elizabeth (Tory) Foster of Black Hawk, Colorado; as well as three grandchildren, Kai, Finnegan, and Rowan Leavens. Jeff is predeceased by his father, William L. Leavens; step-father David Joachim, and sister Jody Leavens. In addition to wife and children, he is survived by his mother, Barbara (Leavens) Joachim of Essex Junction, VT; a sister, Cindy (Michael) Dickerson of Milton, VT; a brother, Gary (Margaret) Leavens of Derby, VT; several nieces and nephews, and countless trees he planted and objects he built during his life. +A private service will be held on Friday, August 9, followed by a celebration of life later in the year. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Our Hospice of Southern Indiana, 2626 17th St., Columbus, IN 47201; or Trout Unlimited, P.O. Box 98166, Washington, DC 20090; or plant something in the ground and help it grow.