Ann Catherine Leonard

Ann Catherine Leonard was born May 2, 1943 to Agnes Pearson Leonard and William A. Leonard, Sr. at St. Joseph Hospital, Savannah GA. She went to Heaven on April 30, 2017 just shy of her 74th birthday. Ann died at Alexian Village of Tennessee, where she had moved for retirement. Until the end, Ann remained the sweet, kind, loving, patient, brave person whose giving ways endured her to many.



Ann attended both Sacred Heart School in Savannah, GA and Nativity School in Thunderbolt prior to attending high school at her cherished St. Vincent's Academy. Ever active, Ann participated in sports and loved to fish. She particularly enjoyed playing softball with her neighborhood friends and coaching basketball teams at Nativity. With a desire to help others, Ann showed leadership at St. Vincent's as Student Council President ' class of 1961.



Ann entered the Sisters of Mercy after graduation, attending Mount St. Agnes/Loyola College, Baltimore, MD. There she began her life's calling as an outstanding educator, motivating her students to make this world a better place. Ann furthered her education through a sixth year in Administration/Supervision from Armstrong Atlantic University. Students in Alabama (Birmingham and Mobile) and Georgia (Savannah, Pooler, and Conyers) will remember Ann fondly for the foundations she laid in and out of her classrooms. She truly loved people, using her outgoing nature and keen sense of humor to put others at ease.



Honest, wise and intuitive, Ann worked tirelessly for children and her schools. With a love of history and literature, Ann team-taught history with a literature teacher to make learning come alive for her students. As Assistant Principal at Juliette Low, Savannah, Ann guided the school to become a Right to Read National Model School of Excellence. As a School Principal Ann lead her schools to be honored with the award of National Schools of Excellence. Knowing good teachers make a profound difference in a child's life she used staff development to help teachers know how to meet the learning needs of students. She also created a program for Hispanic Students using a language program that incorporated volunteers to accelerate student's learning of English and other content orally.



At her retirement in 2002, Ann spent three months in Ireland in a cottage on Galway Bay. With an International Driver's license, Ann drove throughout the beautiful country of her ancestry. Upon her return, she enjoyed many hobbies including reading, woodworking, painting, folk art and gardening. She especially enjoyed research and ancestry. She was loved by her neighbors for the way she always reached out in any need.



Through Ann's studies and teachings, she focused on the brain, with her dissertation being Knowing How We Know. Ann understood how the brain works. With this understanding, she bravely accepted treatments for a chordoma tumor on her brain stem. She was a model of bravery, acceptance, and patience to the end.



Ann is preceded in death by her parents, Agnes and Billy Leonard, and her brother, W. A. 'Bubba' Leonard, Jr.



She is survived by a brother, E. Edward Leonard; Bubba's widow, Janet; five nieces and nephews, Teri (Michael) Best, Elizabeth (IV) Hill, Bill Leonard, Jean Leonard and David (Abigail) Leonard; seven great-nieces and great-nephews, and several cousins.



The Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 o'clock Saturday morning, May 20, 2017, at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. Private interment will be beside her parents in Bonaventure Cemetery.



In lieu of flowers the family asks for donations to St. Vincent's Academy - 207 E. Liberty Street, Savannah, Georgia 31401.