Louise Marie Lefkort

Louise Marie Lefkort 7/24/29 – 11/19/22 Beloved wife of Dr. Jerome D. Lefkort (deceased) dearest Mother of Lisa Lefkort, David Lefkort, and Douglass S. Smith, Alexsandra Lefkort, treasured Grandmother of Benjamin Lefkort and Alexsander Lefkort, of Portland, OR. She is remembered as a compassionate woman, always with a big smile. She was a member of Congregation Ohev Beth Sholom, Youngstown, OH, First Unitarian Universalist of Church of Youngstown, OH, and Mission Peak Unitarian Universalist Congregation. She sang in the choir of all of them. An active member of The Warren League of Women Voters, Haddasah and The Sisterhood. She, Jerome and their friends built Trumbull New Theatre in Warren, Ohio where they were very active for many years. She was an Optometric Assistant to her husband Jerome. She was a strong supporter of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Greenpeace and the Audubon Society. She will be interred at Eloise Woods Natural Burial Park in Cedar Creek, TX. Please direct and donations to any of the organizations listed herein. On Saturday, 11/19/22, my beloved Mother, Louise Marie Lefkort drew her last breath. She was by far the best Mother anyone could dream to have. She instilled in me a love of nature, of making art, a passion for being politically active as she was, respect and love for all fellow beings, and so much more I cannot possibly enumerate. Louise Marie, sweet as can be (her parents’ mantra.) A miracle child. Her parents didn’t think they could “get pregnant.” But in July 1929, she was born. I remember her always mending, unfurling knots. Always reading. ALWAYS reading. That’s how a person with no “higher education” is mistaken for a retired teacher when getting to know new friends. Always playing and laughing. When I was a child, I’d hear her gorgeous gales of laughter when friends visited, or when up late at night with Dad, when they got slap happy, and think “I hope I’ll laugh like that when I grow up.” She was a talented artist, although she’d never agree, a ceramicist, and the best friend and Mother on the planet. Brought me up singing, and made me know I could, too! I know my Brother, David, my husband, Doug, and I will never stop missing her. Gwen Frostic was one of her favorite artists and writers. “A tree each year, at the end of all the twigs, will form new buds. The limbs will grow a little longer, and the tips of the branches will remain forever young. The same way with you. With each day, you reach a little further, each day you learn something new, the tops of your mind will remain forever young – no matter how many years you count on your Birthday.” “Here lies one doubly blessed. She was happy, and she knew it.” “If you look up at the stars, and have a wondrous feeling. If your heart delights at the antics of a chickadee, If a little toad winks as you walk by, or you wish he would, then Gwen’s work is dedicated to you.” These are a few of her favorite Frostic quotes. I think they speak well of her.

Louise Marie Lefkort

July 24, 1929 - November 19, 2022