I Miss My Mom

Leslie F. Schwartz -- raconteur, wit extraordinaire, and beloved wife and mother-passed away on Wednesday, April 29, 2009. Leslie graduated from Poughkeepsie High School, class of 1968, and Barnard College, class of 1972, where she met her future husband, Robert Schwartz. Leslie had a keen gift for bringing good to the world; she could make anyone laugh and she spent her life striving to bring awareness to those doing their best to end others' suffering. After college, Leslie started her career at Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich. Her love of the written word led to her award-winning column in the Ridgewood News called "Suburban Supermom" which distilled the daily trials and tribulation of life in the suburbs into nuggets of wit and sarcastic wisdom. She then chose a life of service - first as Director of the Office of Public Information for Bergern County, then as the Director of Public Relations of Bergen Region Medical Center, and later working in the publicity departments of Mount Sinai, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Leslie was drawn to Mount Sinai after watching how well they took care of her father, Harold Fleisher, and returned to work for the hospital after a stint in the realm of general healthcare P.R. left her wanting to do more for doctors who served people in need. Leslie is best remembered for her razor-sharp wit, her commitment to serving anyone who lacked a voice, and for her strength and power and unwavering spirit. Leslie passed away comfortably after battling lung cancer, leaving behind her husband, Robert Schwartz, and her two children, Bex and Adam, all of whom credit her everlasting sense of humor and love of humanity for their own outlooks on life. Leslie also leaves her siblings, David Fleisher and Sherry Woocher, and her mother, Terry Fleisher. The funeral service will be Friday, May 1st at 10am at the Menorah Chapels at Millburn, 2950 Vaux Hall Road, Union, NJ. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to The Hal Fleisher Leukemia Fund, c/o Jewish Family Service of Dutchess County, 110 Grand Avenue, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603.

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