Francine Leib

LEIB Francine (Fran) (nee Zellman), age 71, of Paramus, passed away on Thursday, June 16, 2011. Fran was born in the Bronx, NY and graduated from James Monroe High School and Hunter College. In 1960, Fran married the love of her life, Dan, and moved to New Jersey where she raised three loving children. After the birth of her children, Fran went back to school and earned a Master's of Education degree from William Paterson College, specializing in science. In the 1970's and early 1980's, Fran worked for the Paramus and Tenafly Boards of Education as a teacher and guidance aide. Fran then went to work as an executive recruiter and, eventually, she and her husband purchased and operated Able Careers, the agency Fran worked for. Fran retired in 2009. In addition to raising a family and being an educator and entrepreneur, Fran devoted her life to community service. A committed member of the Paramus Chapter of the League of Women Voters, in the early 1970's she twice served as the President of the Chapter and was active in advocating for open spaces, the creation of the Paramus Public Pool, and the creation of the Paramus Municipal Golf Course, as well as in organizing voter registration drives. In the years that followed, Fran served on the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Community Center of Paramus, acting as the co-chair of the synagogue's Social Action Committee for many years, tutored for Bergen Reads, and acted as an advocate for the Paramus Department of Social Services and the North Jersey Center for Food Action. Fran's extraordinary efforts to feed the hungry by founding a Thanksgiving and Easter/Passover drive for people to donate turkeys and other foods to needy families was featured prominently in an article in the Jewish Standard. In recent years, Fran also was involved in the Fair Lawn Chapter of the League of Women Voters and sat on the Board of the Bergen ILO. Fran is survived by her husband of 51 years, Dan, and her three dedicated children, Larry, Ann, and Michael. Funeral services will take place Sunday June 19, 2011 at 11 AM at the Jewish Community Center of Paramus, E. 304 Midland Ave., Paramus, NJ. For those wishing to make a donation in Fran's name, the family requests that the donation be made to the Carcinoid Cancer Foundation, 333 Mamaroneck Ave., #492, White Plains, NY 10605.