Marie Louise Leahy

Marie Louise Leahy, known as Louise, passed away peacefully on December 6, 2017, on her 86th birthday, at her home in Osterville, Massachusetts. A funeral service will take place on Saturday, December 10, 2017 at Our Lady of The Assumption in Osterville at 10am.

Louise was born in Brookline on December 6, 1931 to Ada J. and Herbert A. Horgan. She attended Brookline High School, graduated from Radcliffe College in 1952, and subsequently earned a Masters in Education from Boston College. In 1954, she married her college sweetheart, Frank J. Leahy, Jr., of Quincy. Frank and Louise moved often for Frank’s work, going from Brookline to Monterey, California and then Frankfurt, Germany, while Frank was in the Army. Their eldest son, Frank III, was born while they were stationed in Germany. Upon returning to the states, Frank and Louise settled briefly in Connecticut, but then moved to Chicago, and then back to West Hartford, Connecticut, where they resided for 12 years and raised their three children. Despite all the moving, Louise, Frank and their children always spent summers with her mother and sister at their house on West Bay in Osterville, so after another move and living in the Washington, D.C. area for several years, Louise and Frank retired to Osterville in 1993.

Louise was an active volunteer in all of the places she lived, including teaching Head Start classes in Connecticut, teaching “English as a Second Language” in Northern Virginia, and most recently, volunteering for the American Cancer Society in Hyannis. She was a life-long sailor, having taught sailing during the summers at the Girl Scout Camp on Martha’s Vineyard. She also enjoyed reading, especially mystery novels, and she knit dozens and dozens of hats and sweaters over the years for anyone she heard of who had a newborn baby. She could also complete the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle – in ink – in record time.

Louise is survived by her three children, Frank (Rachel Gaunt) of Mill Valley, CA; Jeannie, of Los Altos, CA; and Chris of Santa Clara, CA, and her six beloved grandchildren: Madison, Sam, Nathaniel, Sebastian, Mark and Molly. She is also survived by her twin sister Carol Horgan, of Osterville; and 13 nieces and nephews. Louise was preceded in death by her husband Frank, and her brother Herbert.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Alzheimer’s Association, and the VNA of Cape Cod who provided loving care in the last two years of her life.

Services are under the direction of Doane, Beal & Ames in Hyannis. For online condolences please visit www.doanebealames.com.