Barbara M. Leif

She was very creative from a young age and this location gave her easy access to movies, the theater, and museums with her beloved Ann who was their cook and helped raise Barbara as her parents worked full time.

In grammar school she met the First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt as a reward for winning a creative writing award. She went to camp in the Northeast and one summer won best camper. In high school she was accepted at the High School of Music and Art and studied art. Her many friends there including Susan Strasberg, Charlie Gwathmey, Burt Wolf, and Tony Roberts.

She graduated in 1956 and was supposed to go to FIT for college but her father became ill and had to retire, so, they followed many family members and moved to Los Angeles, joining her late brother Ronnie Leif who was an agent at MCA.

She went to work right away at book stores, another passion, and attended schools-Santa Monica College A.A., CSUN, and Art Center majoring in art and Graphic Design. Her first graphic design job in 1968 was at North American Rockwell, which built the first rockets.

Over her long working life, she had many other graphic jobs doing production and design. She worked at Frederick's of Hollywood, Lytton Center of the Visual Arts, The Hollywood Reporter, The Santa Monica Outlook, Rand Corporation, for architect William Pereira, Theater Graphics Group, Alan Talman working on the poster for a 1927 Napoleon Movie revival, and finally for Steven Escalante Designs.

Barbara made many friends during her life because she was nice, kind, witty, insightful, and listened to other people. Many have passed on or left Los Angeles. But they included James Bridges, Jack Larson, Don Green, Jean London, Arlene Butler, Hans Pensel, Joan Nickleson, Carole Cambon, and Hope Copeland.

In 1989 she met Los Angeles artist Linda Levi and that would begin the 35 year partnership, and 2014 marriage, which would last until her passing. Barbara and Linda had a close and loving relationship, because they shared many interests, both artists, movie and TV watchers, museum and theater goers, going out to dinner, traveling, and sports lovers-the Dodgers.

She leaves niece Carol Ann Leif (Jeff Parker) Beverly Hills, cousins Jane Antonoff Wald, Colorado Springs, Florida, Beth Sassoon, Sherman Oaks, Sally Garst, Iowa, Sister-in-Law, Maru Leif and her children Anna and Juan, and great friends, Peter Brown NYC, Eric and Stacey Gans, Santa Monica, Marge Derrick and Kathy Dion, No. Ca., and Lenore Youngman and Jackie Walker, Pultneyville, NY.

She will be laid to rest at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary.