Leslie and Bill



Bill and Leslie, Quebec, 2008

Leslie Bowman Marcus
July 5, 1951 - May 29, 2012

Leslie Bowman Marcus, 60, a resident of Woodland since 1992, died of pancreatic cancer on Tuesday, May 29, 2012. She was born on July 5, 1951 in Oakland. At age 4 she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.  She would not let the disease defeat her and experienced a full life and great improvements in the treatment of diabetes.

She graduated from Piedmont High School in 1969 and still had many high school friends.  She received a bachelor of arts in rhetoric from UC Davis in 1973.  Over the years, Leslie worked as Sacramento campus coordinator at Golden Gate University, as a trainer and telecommunications manager at Kaiser Hospital in Sacramento, as a personnel consultant for small businesses, and finally, for seven years, in Woodland, as a paralegal and director of the Fair Housing Hotline Project of Legal Services of Northern California.

Starting out as an opponent of the Vietnam war, Leslie always was a political activist.  She cared deeply about affordable housing, served on the board of Community Housing Opportunities Corporation in the 1990s and worked with the City Council and staff in Woodland to pass the ordinance that requires construction of affordable housing in new developments in Woodland.  She helped the Democratic Party all her life, running the party headquarters in Woodland in 2008.  Her last political effort was as campaign treasurer in the successful bipartisan effort to raise the sales tax in Woodland in 2010 (Measure V).

Leslie has always had an active Christian faith and knows that she passed away wrapped in God's arms.  She was a lifelong Episcopalian, obtained theological training from the four-year Education for Ministry program of the University of the South, and served for five years on the Commission on Ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California. She ended her life as a member of the parish church where she grew up – St. John's in Oakland, which her parents still attend.

She married Bill Marcus, the love of her life, in 1985 and had a long and happy marriage.  She had fun traveling with her husband in the U.S., Canada, and particularly in Europe, enjoyed her home in Woodland, and loved spending time with her family, particularly her nieces and nephews as they grew from childhood and came into their own as young adults.

Leslie is survived by her husband; her parents, Thomas and Margaret Bowman;  her brothers, David Bowman (wife Gloria Miller) and Jim Bowman (fiancée Beth de Jarnette); her sister, Shelley Andrews (husband Don); her sister in deep friendship, Ximena Bustamante; seven nieces and nephews, a grand-niece, and grand-nephew, and many friends.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Yolo County Food Bank, 1244 Fortuna Ave., Woodland, 95776;  St. John's Episcopal Church, 1707 Gouldin Road, Oakland, 94611;  the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, 2454 Ridge Road, Berkeley, 94706; or a charity of the donor's choice.



To view or download the 16 page .PDF file of the order of service for Leslie's Celebration of Life, please click on the cover image below:

April 1st Message From Leslie (Not An April Fool Joke...)

Anne [Cobbledick Gritzer] - everything is turned on its head now.  Back into the hospital in Sacramento on Wed morning (March 28) through yesterday evening, and then was transported by ambulance from there to my home.  The ambulance was necessary because "on board" the vehicle with me was the personal pain dispenser machine, that allows me to dose myself with morphine every six minutes as needed (in addition to the "regular" 90 mg of tablet morphine every 8 hours).  The Federal Drug Enforcement Administration won't allow this pain medication to be moved from one location to another unless accompanied by the right kind of folks, I guess ...

The chemo I've been on for six months has stopped being effective, the only alternative kind of chemo has much worse side effects, the worse of which feels like the one where I feel like my throat is closing and that's I'm going to choke to death, and that "new" treatment would only (if I'm lucky) extend my life by a couple of months at best.  Horrible side effects loaded on top of the ones I already have suffered with the "old" chemo, continued rides (and me no longer able to get to and from places on my own), and my complete and total exhaustion from the blood clots that have now killed off 1/3 of my spleen -- add it all together, and it's time to put my affairs in order (not just a half-way, jackass way of being prepared) and get ready for the solution to the life-long mystery ...

Time for 90 mg's of morphine and bed, followed by more of the same.  If you'd like to send this out to folks or post to the Team Leslie Blog, that would be fine with me. 

Love,

Leslie

Report From Sylvia



Hi all,

I spent some time with Leslie once again the  week of Dec. 5 and she is doing real well.  She continues on her 3-week cycles of weekly chemo treatments, is pretty well pounded by the effects for a few days then bounces back to normal. Energy levels are of course quite low and, when  she disappears every once in awhile we know she’s grabbing a catnap.   A few of the things we did together: wrapped some Christmas gifts, watched “Love Actually” (while Bill was at work since that is a 100% chick flick!),  ran some errands, and had a roaring good time on a SKYPE call with Bob Stetson.

Here is a picture of Leslie and the “Healing Hands” bed coverlet which was made for her by friends from St John’s Episcopal Church in Montclair. You can’t quite see it in the picture but each “hand” is personally signed with some words of encouragement.  It’s a cheery sight to behold!

Leslie will have a CT scan in late December to see where things stand since the first one done in the early days of her diagnoses in August.  She is already considered a ‘poster child’ for being a diabetic with pancreatic cancer… maybe there will be some more hopeful news by the New Year.

Merry Christmas to all!

Sylvia

A Note from Leslie...

In October, Leslie sent the letter included here as a two-part Comment to some of the readers of this blog.  We're reprinting it at her suggestion as, a month after she first wrote, it still encapsulates all of her "states" -- physical, emotional and spiritual.  And it especially encapsulates the love she feels for all her friends -- which is returned a hundredfold.

Getting on Leslie's page...

     When you think about our shared history in Piedmont, sooner or later an image or recollection of Leslie Bowman is going to enter that space.  Whether it’s at Camp, Dr. Laird’s French class, or “The Highlander,” Leslie’s presence – then as it is now --  is always memorable! Remember Leslie in a full leg cast resolutely trudging up and down the ramps at PHS getting from class to class? Waving a crutch, laughing, saying ‘hi’ to people, clearing away incoming traffic.  Now there’s a classic “Leslie visual”!

     Her recently diagnosed pancreatic cancer is by no means the only battle she has faced. As a 56-year diabetic, she learned early and well to fight fiercely to live her life with passion, laughter, and purpose.

     Now, in the throes of her fiercest fight, despite pain, fatigue, and the gamut of emotions, she is in a state of  grace, a grace that comes from a very real and personal relationship with her Creator.  She continues to exhort, advocate, minister to, and enrich the lives of everyone lucky enough to be in her world.   We can honor and delight her by ‘getting on her page’ – living our lives with passion, generosity, gratitude, and now, as the bitter specter of pancreatic cancer looms, urgency.

     In July, Leslie and I celebrated our 60^th birthdays together with her parents at their home on Monte Ave.  What did Leslie bring to the party? A ridiculously silly portable bubble machine, which spewed out a barrage of big, juicy bubbles as we laughed our heads off and sang Happy Birthday. Is that so Leslie or what? 
    -Sylvia (Cartwright) Simpson, Sept. 16, 2011

Well wishes from loved ones and friends...

If you scroll further down this page, you will find posts from some of the friends who were involved in the creation of the Team Leslie blog.  But we welcome you to contribute by going to the Comments right here to write a new message of your own...

Woodland Pow Wow

These two  photos were shot by Bill Marcus, Saturday November 19th, on the front steps of "Chez Marcus" in Woodland.  Left to right are:  Reid Dabney, Leslie, Anne Gritzer, and Bob Nelson.  Bob is wearing a French beret in deference to francophilia, and is holding a pair of Daffodil bulbs for spring blooming, a wonderful gift of new life from Leslie and Bill.  Piedmont High School classmates Reid, Anne, and Bob journeyed from the East Bay for a short visit with Leslie, which happily lasted longer than planned!  :-)