Leona Seidel Shevitz

Leona J. Shevitz

While always fiercely proud of her hometown of Baltimore, Maryland -- where she was born in 1927, and where she married her husband Reuben in 1949 -- Leona Shevitz lived most of her life in Indianapolis. She earned a Master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, before she and Reuben moved to Indianapolis in 1952 when he started his career at Eli Lilly & Company. While raising her family, she became very involved in her synagogue and was active in many local Jewish community organizations, including serving as the Chair of the Indianapolis chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women, volunteering with Hadassah, and helping to set up housing for immigrants from the former Soviet Union. She also volunteered at several local cultural institutions and helped care for newborns at Riley Hospital for Children.

Leona’s mother, Goldie Seidel, moved into the Shevitz family home when Leona’s father, Morris, passed away shortly after Leona had her first baby. Like everyone in the family, Leona appreciated the benefits of raising children in a multi-generational home, where meal preparation was a communal event and where any item of clothing could easily be altered or repaired by the skillful hands of either mom or Bubby, using their Singer sewing machine. Leona’s life was sadly marked by the tragic loss of her oldest child, Marilyn, who passed away unexpectedly from heart disease after her first year of college. Leona guided her family through that terrible hardship with fortitude and dignity. She and Reuben were blessed with a marriage that lasted 70 years before he passed away in 2019. She is survived by her sons, Barry (Irit) and Richard (Ellen), two grandchildren, Meredith (Ian) and Isabelle, and Leona was fortunate to witness the recent bris of her great-grandson, Enzo.

Graveside funeral services will be on Tuesday, December 23, 2025, at 10:00 am in Beth-El Zedeck North Cemetery. For those unable to attend, the funeral will be live-streamed by clicking HERE

Memorial contributions in Leona's memory may be made to Popsie's Pantry, c/o Jewish Family Services, 6905 Hoover Rd, Indianapolis, IN 46260

or, https://www.jewishindianapolis.org/jfs.