Leslie B Tibbals

Leslie was born August 29, 1947, in Chicago, IL to George Nathan Benson and Betty Neumann Benson. A strong-willed and fierce personality, she was kind and always stuck up for what she believed in. She was a loving mother, sister, and grandmother.

Leslie grew up in the Chicago area, the oldest of three children. She attended Randolph-Macon Women’s College in Virginia before following in her parents’ footsteps and transferring to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. After college, she moved to New York City where she met her husband of 34 years, David Lester Tibbals who passed away in 2005. A devoted mother, they had two children, Peter and Alex. The family moved around a bit, from Arlington Heights, Illinois to Shrewsbury, Massachusetts to eventually settling down in Marietta, GA.

An avid reader, Leslie devoured books of all kinds, with a particular interest in the subject of liberal politics which paired nicely with her love of MSNBC and Rachel Maddow. She was an excellent listener, who had no problem telling you the unvarnished truth.

Always looking for ways to keep her mind sharp, she woke up early every morning to do the New York Times Crossword Puzzle and achieve “Queen Bee” status in the NYT Spelling Bee game.

As a younger adult, Leslie dove headfirst into the socio-athletic world that was the Atlanta tennis scene. She was constantly on an ALTA doubles team where she won multiple City Championships, though never with her husband in mixed doubles. That was “a thing.” After hanging up her tennis racquet, she developed an avid interest in mahjong and played many a cutthroat game with her multi-generational cohort of mahjong friends.

In the COVID years, having exhausted all of the English-language options on Netflix, she pivoted to foreign language dramas before settling on a deep love of Korean television. She knew the names and backgrounds of all the most popular Korean stars. She and her sister could talk for hours about the latest Korean celebrity gossip.

Leslie is survived by her younger brother and sister, Garry (Kay) and Lisa (Danny), sister and brother-in-law her two sons, Peter (Rachel) and Alex, and her two grandchildren, Sydney and Max.

Leslie’s feisty spirit, warm hugs and eager desire to help whenever she could will be deeply missed. The family surrounding her and the friends she made along the way are a testament to a life well-lived.

A memorial service will be held Friday, August 7 at H.M. Patterson & Son-Canton Hill, 1157 Old Canton Road NE, Marietta, GA 30068. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the American Cancer Society, 1-800-227-2345 (donate.cancer.org).