Thelma Leskowitz

Born in New York City, she was the daughter of the late Ben and Kate Cibulsky, originally of Grodno, Belarus. Thelma graduated from Queen’s College with a degree in French. After a blind date and a long walk over a bridge led to marriage, Thelma and Sidney settled in Framingham to raise their family. She became very involved in local community organizations such as the League of Women Voters and the PTA, and she worked as a foreign language substitute teacher in the Framingham Public Schools. She then worked for many years at Cerel’s Travel Agency in Natick, traveling the world to direct tours in her capacity as a travel agent, and accompanying Sidney on his many scientific presentations at symposia worldwide. She had an insatiable travel bug, feeding her appetite with excursions to exotic locales far and wide. She was just as fond of Machu Picchu as the boutiques of Paris, or Filene's Basement, where she "helped" Mayor Menino close down the store on its final day.

She was an avid patron of the arts, and regularly attended the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Museum of Fine Arts, Danforth Museum, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, DeCordova Museum and many other local institutions. She herself was a talented painter and silversmith, and her prolific body of work was greatly influenced by the Impressionist movement and her world travels. She was also a voracious reader who was never without a book. She especially loved the week on the Cape she spent every summer with her family, a tradition dating back 25 years. Thelma's pride and joy was her family, and she cherished the time she spent with them, whether at restaurants, the symphony, museums, or holiday get togethers.

She is survived by her loving children Eric and his wife Doreen of Needham and their children Shari and David; Andrew and his partner Elizabeth Montgomery of Honolulu, and his former wife Barbara and their children Bryan and Jenna; and Laurie Signore and her husband Mark and their children Renée and Jeffrey of Holliston. She also leaves many nieces, nephews, very dear friends far and wide, and her beloved sisters in law Myra, Blossom and Ann. She was pre deceased by her beloved sister Bertha.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend a memorial service at Levine Chapels, 470 Harvard St, Brookline, Ma., on Wednesday March 7 at 3pm.

In lieu of flowers, a donation in her name may be made to the Sidney Leskowitz Memorial Lecture Fund, c/o Department of Pathology, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Ave., Boston MA 02111.