Marian Leighton Acree

On Saturday, July 16, 2022, Marian Eva (Leighton) Acree, a loving wife, devoted mother of two sons, grandmother of three grandchildren, and great-grandmother to four great-grandchildren, passed away peacefully at the age of 99.

Marian was born on April 14, 1923, in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Leroy Edwin Leighton and Ethyl Elizabeth (Reid) Leighton. She was the youngest of four children – Burnell Edwin Leighton (who died at age two), Ruth Elizabeth (Leighton) Smith Chancellor, Jean Elvira (Leighton) Diaz Crosby, and Marian. She was raised in Jacksonville, Florida where she graduated from Robert E. Lee High School (now renamed Riverside High School) in 1941. She worked as an administrative assistant in local small businesses for several years. On December 17, 1946, she married Claude Acree, then a post-World War II veteran and engineering student at the University of Florida. Together they raised two sons, Robert Leighton Acree and David Brooks Acree. During their fifty-four-year marriage, Marian worked to maintain their loving home life in Terre Haute, Indiana; Monroe, Louisiana; Memphis, Tennessee; Pensacola, Florida; Tampa, Florida; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Portland, Oregon; and Atlanta, Georgia as her husband’s career advanced. Marian moved to Dallas after the passing of her beloved husband Claude in 2000 and was part of CC Young Retirement Community since 2011.

Marian’s profession, she always said, was to be a homemaker. She had a passion for helping people. She was a volunteer at the local women’s hospital for many years. She loved the simple things in life, especially the springtime, and colorful flowers such as pansies.

Marian was preceded in death by her husband, Claude. She is survived by her son Robert, his three children, Michelle Catherine (Acree) Averna, Brian William Acree, Laura Christine (Acree) Talento, and their children Charlotte Grey Averna, Felix Eisley Averna, Kaiper Anne Talento and Evan Orson Talento, and Marian’s son David and his wife Bobbie Ann (Baird) Acree. and by nieces and nephews Jane (Diaz) Jackson, Richard Diaz, Jr., Patricia (Smith) Weitzel, Beverly (Smith) Read, Suzanne (Smith) Sauls, Toni Acree, Scott Acree, Chris Acree, Dawn (Acree) West, William Acree, and Adam Acree -- many of whom live in the Jacksonville area.

A funeral service will be held on Thursday, July 28th, 2022 at Greenlawn Cemetery, 4300 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32207 at 10 o’clock a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations in Marian’s name may be sent to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.GreenlawnJacksonville.com for the Acree family.