REMEMBERING JYL

Joan Yaverbaum Leopold 1941-2006

Saturday, February 11, 2006 BY LES POWELLOf The Patriot-News

"Active" is far too weak a word to describe Joan Leopold. Leopold, 65, who died Feb. 3 at her Susquehanna Twp. home, taught geography at The Rabbi David L. Silver Yeshiva Academy in Harrisburg, where she attended first through sixth grade (her father, Irving Yaverbaum, was a founder of the school). She became the president of its parent-teacher organization and its board of directors and the chairwoman of the education committee.

"She was my mentor," said Yeshiva Academy resource teacher Cheryl Sinoway, who has been a board member, PTO co-president and education committee member.

"I saw how wise she was, what a professional she was," Sinoway said. "She knew how to accomplish her goals in a quiet, compassionate way. She was a good listener. I tried to emulate that. She had a very, very deep love for the school. I often think of her when I have to make a decision.

"She was a big part of the community, an integral part," Sinoway said. "When you have somebody so good, so decent and caring, it's difficult to lose somebody like that."
For nearly 30 years, Leopold was the director of patient education at Harrisburg State Hospital and a founder and chairwoman of its 12-member historical committee.

"It's a great loss," state Public Welfare Secretary Estelle B. Richman said of Leopold's death. "She did a great job of sustaining [the hospital's] archives."

The hospital, which officially closed in January, has retained about 50 patients pending completion of permanent homes in the community.

Leopold was instrumental in establishing the Dorothea Dix Museum on the hospital grounds. Working on behalf of the mentally ill made Dix (1802-1887) world-famous.
The museum houses such artifacts as the original 1851-83 patient admissions book, as well as a stereopticon. "I liken it to a slide projector," Leopold once said. "We have 5,000 hand-painted glass slides of famous people, faraway places, birds and animals."

A Dauphin County Library System board member until last year, Leopold "was a tireless advocate for literacy," said Karen Cullings, the library system's community relations director. "She always had her finger on the pulse of what the community needed, what the library users needed. She led by example, with a great deal of confidence and compassion."

She was a member of the Mayor's Commission on Literacy. Harrisburg Mayor Stephen R. Reed said she was a charter member who "served with strong leadership skill."

"Literacy was clearly her passion," Reed said. "She helped foster a variety of programs" for children and adults, helping them improve their potential for success in life. "She leaves a caring and humanistic legacy," he said. "She will be sorely missed."

For the last 25 years, Leopold was the executive director of the Pennsylvania Association for Adult and Continuing Education. She was a former PAACE president and received its Outstanding Adult Educator Award.

Those achievements notwithstanding, the mother of five and grandmother of 12 will likely be best-remembered as "Grandma." For the last five years, her entire family gathered in August for a weekend. After that, her seven oldest grandchildren stayed for a week of "Grandma Camp" -- amusement parks, swimming, museums, shows and factory tours.

Active in religious life, Leopold was a life member of the National Council of Jewish Women and, until illness made it impossible, a daily attendee at Beth El Temple's morning minyan, a service requiring a minimum attendance of 10.

Leopold "exemplified dignity and knowledge," Rabbi Eric Cytryn said. "What I focused on in the funeral eulogy was her wisdom." He said she considered it critical that "children had a good, intensive start in their education."

"She was very funny, had a great sense of humor," the rabbi said. "She couldn't stop talking about her husband [Marx S. "Sandy" Leopold], her children and grandchildren." Once, he recalled, her twin sons "brought their mother and father to a Grateful Dead concert," after which "she welcomed three dozen of [her sons'] friends into their home, and Joanie fed them all. She was incredibly generous."

"She was an exceptional baker," he said. "She was well-known for her coffee cakes, chocolate cakes and breakfast rolls."

Last April, the local Jewish community honored Leopold as a Community Mitzvah Hero ("mitzvah" is Hebrew for "commandment").

"She can't be replaced," Cytryn said. "Joanie exemplified ... loving kindness. She was a great leader and role model."

LES POWELL: 255-8154
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