Jean Brett-Leach, ‘indomitable spirit,’ dies

The pews of St. Agnes Cathedral were filled with a diverse assembly to honor the life of Jean Brett-Leach on Dec. 5. Old and young, multiple religions, ethnicities and even those of differing political views gathered to remember a woman who had touched all of their lives through her “indomitable spirit” and zest for experiencing life. Leach died on Dec. 3 after an 18-month battle with lymphoma. She was 61.

Known for her incredible empathy and compassion, Leach had a way of making people feel like they were part of her family, according to her husband, James.

“If you needed to talk to her, she’d listen,” he said. “If you had a problem you needed help with, she Googled it. She’d Google, and she’d Google and she’d Google because she was the queen of Google, but she always found answers.”

It was this overriding desire to help those in need that led Leach to join politics, eventually becoming the Rockville Centre Zone Leader for the Nassau County Democratic Party. Throughout the years, she went door-to-door recruiting voters and asking residents to sign a variety of petitions. Often conversations that started on doorsteps ended with Leach heading inside to help the residents with some sort of problem. Her husband knew she couldn’t help herself and learned to bring along things to keep himself occupied while she offered assistance and compassion.

Leach also had a strong spiritual side and was on a never-ending search to learn all that she could. She even became a Reiki master and hypnotherapist in her quest to assist and help others. 

“My soul mate,” Leach called her husband on more than one occasion. The couple met in college when they were 19 years old. They were together for 42 years and raised two children, Christopher and Kaitlin, in Rockville Centre. James described their life together as a journey filled with love, laughter, pain due to loss of loved ones and enduring friendship. “I would not exchange a single moment we had together,” he said.