Jeanne Marie Leavitt

1930 - 2021

Leavitt, Jeanne Marie ROCHESTER Jeanne Marie (King) Leavitt died at Charter House on Tuesday, October 26, 2021. Jeanne was born on February 3, 1930, in Huntington, N.Y. to John and Florence (Tuplin) King. She attended Northport High School and graduated from the Academy of Holy Names in Albany. She attended Rochester Institute of Technology, majoring in business. In 1951, she married Frederick C. Leavitt in Valatie, at St John the Baptist Catholic Church. They both worked at Hercules Powder Company in Wilmington, Del., before moving in 1953 to Syracuse for Fred to complete his Ph.D. After graduate school, they moved to Michigan for Fred's first job at Dow Chemical Co. They moved multiple times with Dow, including Framingham and Wellesley, Mass., Midland, Mich. and Milan, Italy. Jeanne was a wonderful hostess and cook for countless work and family dinners and parties. Jeanne went back to finish her college degree at Central Michigan University, graduating in 1974. Afterwards, she was a real estate agent until they moved to Milan in 1978. While living there, they were able to travel and ski quite a bit and Jeanne became fairly fluent in Italian. In 1984, they moved to Washington, D.C. where Jeanne was active in Achievement Rewards for College Scientists. Several years after Fred retired, they moved back to the Albany area where Jeanne joined an Alzheimer's support group. Fred passed away in 2008 and in 2013, Jeanne moved to Charter House. In addition to her husband, Jeanne was predeceased by her parents and her sisters, Ellen Zimmermann, Muriel Gibbons and Jackie King. She is survived by her daughter Jacqueline Leavitt Stafford; son-in-law Scott; and grandson Eric; as well as her adopted daughter Mary Ann Reed, nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews and many King family cousins. A family memorial service will be held at a later date. Memorials may be made in her honor to Mayo Clinic in Rochester or the Alzheimer's Association.