Elizabeth Ann Johnson Leonard

Elizabeth Ann Johnson Leonard, beloved wife of Louis Franklin Leonard, was surrounded by her family when she lost her eight year struggle with ovarian cancer on Thursday, (March 4, 2004). She passed away in the home of her daughter and son-in-law, Ann Leonard and Robert C Hogan Jr, on Hogan's Magnolia View Farm, in Chapel Hill, NC. She had recently celebrated her 82nd birthday with her family on March 1. She and her husband had been residents of West Hartford, and members of Asylum Hill Congregational Church for more than 50 years.Elizabeth Ann was born March 1, 1922 in Saint Paul, MN, the daughter of Henrietta Rosalie Hoffmann and Edwin Charles Johnson, Ph.D.

As a result of a series of childhood illnesses, she was largely educated at home by her parents and developed a lifelong passion for reading and learning. She attended Duke University, majoring in history with a minor in math, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1943. Upon graduation, she moved to Hartford to accept a position with Pratt & Whitney Aircraft (P&WA) as an Engineering Aide, providing mathematical calculations related to aircraft design and flight. Elizabeth met her husband, Louis, working at P&WA. In 1949, Elizabeth worked for the Department of State, Washington DC, doing personnel statistics for the Foreign Service. She left the State Department in order to marry Lou on September 13, 1952.

Elizabeth and Lou returned to Hartford to raise their family. It was a happy family who valued time together and would summer together every year on an Island off the coast of Maine where Lou was born. Elizabeth and Lou stressed the importance of moral character, setting the example themselves, of love of family and traditions, and of education. Throughout her life, she was a passionate reader in many areas of interest, including history and historic architectural design, and was a critical and analytic thinker about national and international politics. After Lou's retirement from P&WA, they enjoyed visiting their children and traveling. Recently, they visited Alaska and made their annual summer trip to Casco Bay with all of their children and grandchildren.

Elizabeth is survived by her husband of 51 years, Louis F. Leonard of West Hartford; and children, Henrietta Louise Leonard and her husband Kenneth C. Rickler of Providence, RI, Ann Hamilton Leonard and her husband, Robert C. Hogan, Jr., of Chapel Hill, NC, Edward Robert Leonard and his wife Regina of West Hartford, and Susan Elizabeth Leonard and her husband John F. Sullivan of Northern Virginia. She is preceded in death by her son, George Edwin Leonard, III. She is loved by her grandchildren, Alexander and Nathaniel Rickler, Daniel, James and Henry Hogan, and Barbara, Margaret, and George Edwin Leonard.

The funeral will be held at Asylum Hill Congregational Church, Hartford, at 1 pm on Saturday, March 13. Burial will be at a later date on Chebeague Island, Maine.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Asylum Hill Congregational Church, 814 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105; Chebeague Island United Methodist Church, 258 North Rd, Chebeague Island, ME 04017; or to Hartford Hospital for ovarian cancer support, Fund Development Office, 80 Seymour St, Hartford, CT 06102. The family would like to give a special thank you to the gynecologic oncology teams at the Hartford Hospital and at the University of North Carolina.