SCHWARTZ LESLIE ANN SCHWARTZ (Age 58) Passed away on March 17, 2016 in her home in Dickerson, MD after a struggle with pancreatic cancer. She spent her final moments surrounded by family in their home at the base of Sugarloaf Mountain, where for the past seven years, Leslie could be found hiking daily with her two dogs Rosie and Percy, no matter the weather. Leslie spent her early years in southern California before moving to Maryland with her mother, where she quickly made friends at each new school thanks to her inherent friendliness and prowess on the kickball field. From an early age, Leslie developed a love of children, animals, and the outdoors. Some of her favorite early jobs included working at a nursery school and selling retail at an outdoor equipment store in Boston, MA in between years of college. She took pleasure walking her dog, Erin around the lake in Reston, VA as a teenager and walking her dog, Ginger around Avenel as a mother. Leslie studied psychology at the University of Michigan before moving to Washington, DC and working at a public relations firm. It was there that she met Seth Schwartz and the two fell in love and got married after nine months of dating. After her marriage, Leslie entered a PhD program in psychology at the University of Maryland at College Park, but when she got pregnant in the second year of the program she decided to stay home and raise her children full-time. Raising her five children was the joy of Leslie''s life, and she threw herself into her life''s work, sewing her children homemade costumes for Halloween every year, cooking healthy dinners every night, filling their home library full of books, and participating actively in their education as a proud homeschooling mama. She approached life with an open curiosity and a silly sense of fun. Leslie is survived and lovingly remembered by her husband, Seth; her five children, Heather, Molly, Megan, Kelsey and Brendan; her mother, Jan Piez, and many others who she was blessed to meet and bring in as family throughout the course of her life. Funeral services will be held on Sunday, March 20 at 1 p.m. at Garden of Remembrance Cemetery, 14321 Comus Road, Clarksburg MD with Rabbi Alison Kobey officiating. The family invites friends and family to their home at 2 p.m. after the service and will sit Shiva and greet friends March 20 to March 22 in their home from 7 to 9 p.m. Memorials may be made in Leslie''s name to Stronghold, Inc. at sugarloafmd.com to support Sugarloaf Mountain Park, Leslie''s favorite place, or to support pancreatic cancer research at Georgetown''s Ruesch Center at ruesch.georgetown.eduMemorials may be made in Leslie''s name to Stronghold, Inc. at sugarloafmd.com to support Sugarloaf Mountain Park, Leslie''s favorite place, or to support pancreatic cancer research at Georgetown''s Ruesch Center
Service
MAR 20. 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Garden of Remembrance
14321 Comus Road
Clarksburg, MD, 20871