Jeanne Marie Leonardi

Jeanne Marie Bell-Leonardi died unexpectedly on the evening of November 9, 2024, after a complication from knee replacement surgery. A lifelong Angelino, she was the youngest of five and born in Santa Monica. She was a resident of Culver City, West Los Angeles, Topanga Canyon/Malibu, and finally Redondo Beach for the last thirty-eight years of her life. She was a loving and proud mother to her two sons, Chris and Justin, and wife to her husband Joe. She was a loyal and fiercely protective friend of the people she loved. She had a quick wit and wicked sense of humor and often left people smiling and laughing with each other.

Jeanne left high school at sixteen, represented herself as eighteen, and went to Washington D.C. to work and travel with the 1972 presidential campaigns of Hubert Humphrey and George McGovern. She worked as a campaign advance team reader to research the community concerns in local print media to address specific voter concerns unique to each city. This experience solidified her lifelong interest in government affairs, politics, and her commitment to help others. She understood the power of knowledge, and she was a voracious reader who sought to research and consider all sides of the issues before making decisions.

She returned to California and worked in the restaurant industry, co-owned her own restaurant, an aircraft parts manufacturing company, a Torrance car wash, and the local churros shop at the base of the Redondo Beach Pier. Jeanne was very active in the PTA at Tulita Elementary School and continued to participate in PTA activities throughout her sons’ attendance at Redondo Beach schools.

Jeanne’s life led her to many different places and people, and it was her genuine personality that affected the lives of many. She maintained numerous groups of friends of all ages from diverse communities and cultures with some relationships spanning over fifty years. She had a giant heart. She often took people under her wings to help them, whether they were adults or children. Many of her younger friends viewed her as a second mother who did not hesitate to tell them the truth. They have commented that it wasn’t always what they wanted to hear, but it was what they needed.

She encouraged friends to pursue better jobs and education. Since her death, her family has heard many stories about the impact and positive changes she made to people’s lives by taking them to job interviews and healthcare appointments; providing literature and instructions for acceptance to schools; obtaining citizenship and government resources; and listening to their life problems while remaining a discreet confidant.

She had a unique quality to see and encourage the good in people, and she wanted to help them become the best that they could be. There are many people who see the good in everybody, but few who can make them see the good in themselves. Jeanne had that power and would use it until she was sure they could see it too. She made a positive difference in her small part of the world.

Jeanne is survived by her immediate family, Joe, Justin, Chris, Sol, Jun, and Jennifer, her brother Joseph Gregory, sisters Kathleen and Rosalee, numerous nieces and nephews, and her many Redondo Beach friends and neighbors. The family will have a celebration of life party for her in January or February after the holidays.