Marilyn Browdy Leonard

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of our beloved mother, Marilyn Browdy Leonard, who departed this life on May 12, 2025, at the age of 83.

Marilyn was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend. Her unwavering love, kindness, and strength touched the lives of all who knew her. She dedicated her life to her family, always putting others before herself and offering comfort, wisdom, and support in every situation.

She will be remembered for running Browdy’s of Mountain Brook, a business her grandfather started in 1913. It was at their original location where a young soldier who was stationed in Alabama and had seen her at a party the night before came to ask her on their first date. Just over a year later they were married, and remained married until Lenny’s passing in 2015.

Marilyn and Lenny had an adventurous first few years of marriage as he got transferred to Colorado and she had to leave her beloved Alabama to finish college at the University of Denver. After years of traveling and moving more than a dozen times, they eventually returned to Alabama so Marilyn could work at her family’s business. She and her brother Stanley ran Browdy’s until it closed in 2009.

She will be remembered for her warm heart, her generous spirit, and her never ending kindness. Her legacy lives on in the values she instilled, the memories we cherish, and the love she gave so freely.

She was preceded in death by her loving husband, Leonard David Leonard, with whom she was married to for 54 years prior to his passing, and her beloved brother Stanley Morton Browdy.

She is survived by her children, Vann Leonard and Becky Gunn (Aaron); her grandchildren, Will and Reed Leonard, and Hadley and Avery Gunn; Her sisters, Frances Perel and Eleanor Fisher; and, numerous nieces, nephews, and friends who will continue to honor her memory every day.

A service will be held on May 14, 2025, at Elmwood Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Marfan Foundation ( https://marfan.org/ ) or O’Neal Library in her honor.

She will be deeply missed and forever remembered.