Elizabeth Jean Lease

Growing up, Elizabeth's moved between Buffalo and Hamburg in upstate New York, then out to Los Angeles, Schenectady, NY, and eventually through Rhode Island and Florida.

Through all of it, she developed a curiosity and resilience that would define her entire life. She found wonder in the world around her — in music, in beauty, in the stars. As a teenager she was already deep in astrology books, carefully charting the lives of people around her. Fashion captivated her too, and she dreamed of one day designing clothes and living glamorously.

She was also a natural musician. Growing up she sang soprano in the church choir and played piano. Music ran through her family; it was the language of her household and her happiest memories.

In her thirties, she made her way to Hollywood, California — bold, dressed beautifully, and full of ambition. She joined the Hollywood Studio Club, a storied residence for aspiring actresses and models, and threw herself into the world of modeling. She was becoming exactly who she had always imagined herself to be.

Then came the skiing accident.

With both legs broken, Elizabeth moved to Whittier, California, to recover with her brother Francis. It was there she met Raymond Joseph Boucher — a gentle, guitar-playing man. He cared for her through her recovery, and she married him in December of 1959, still wearing leg braces. On October 2, 1960, their daughter Francine was born in Inglewood, California. Life had redirected her, as it sometimes does, toward something she hadn't planned but would come to love deeply.

Elizabeth built a rich, layered life in California. She and Raymond became avid antique dealers — her passion for Chinese lacquerware and Ming Dynasty pieces ran deep.

The family would spend weekends at swap meets selling antiques together, little Francine alongside them. It became a way of life, and eventually Elizabeth opened her own antique shop in Inglewood — a place that suited her perfectly, a woman of refined taste surrounded by beautiful things.

Her daughter Francine remembers a woman who dressed to the nines even for ordinary days, who kept a garden overflowing with roses and begonias, who played piano and could pick up any song. Raymond played guitar and harmonica; the house was full of music. Singalongs, laughter, warmth. She was always up for a good time, always dressed like she was going somewhere worth going.

In her forties, Elizabeth went back to school. She earned a degree in Elderly Social Science from El Camino University in Torrance, California in 1977 — and reportedly received an A++ on a paper about DNA that was decades ahead of its time. Around the same time, in 1976, she married her third husband, Michael Lease, whose name she would carry for the rest of her life. She became a senior advocate and companion for those living with Alzheimer's disease, bringing her warmth and intelligence to some of the most vulnerable people in her community. It was a second calling, and she answered it completely.

In her mid-fifties, Elizabeth spent a couple of quiet, creative years working at Met Lox Pottery in Manhattan Beach — painting ceramics and eating lunch on the ocean. It was a small chapter, but one that suited her perfectly — a woman who always found beauty wherever she landed.

Around 1988, Elizabeth made her way to Rhode Island, and later to Stuart, Florida, where her daughter Francine cared for her with extraordinary devotion for the last six years of her life at home.

In her final years, Alzheimer's slowly took her memory, but not her essence. Those around her still saw the curiosity, the sweetness, the open heart. She loved cats — about twenty of them over a lifetime — adored little children, and never stopped being interested in herbs, vitamins, astrology, and the mysteries of the world. She had survived nearly ten car accidents, a traumatic skiing injury, and a lifetime of upheaval — always landing on her feet, always with her lipstick on.

So much of who Elizabeth was lives on in her granddaughter, Christine Elizabeth Hall — named, in part, to carry her forward. Christine inherited her grandmother's love of wellness, herbs, and vitamins; her fascination with astrology and mysticism; her eye for beauty; her deep curiosity about the world; and that same soul-forward way of moving through life with openness and intention. Elizabeth didn't just pass down a name, she passed down a way of being.

She is survived by her two daughters, Sarah Rose of Canada and Francine Boucher Hall of Stuart, Florida; her granddaughter Christine Elizabeth Hall; and a niece and several nephews who adored her for the sweet, loving presence she always was.

Elizabeth Benner Lease — model, antique dealer, pianist, soprano, scholar, mother, grandmother — left this world on May 27, 2026, ninety-nine years after she entered it. She dressed like a diva, loved like it cost her nothing, and left everyone who knew her a little more open-hearted for it.

She was, by all accounts, the best.