AMELIA LEIGH
1918-2020
Amelia Leigh was born in Cameron, Texas, on the 10th of March 1918, and passed away in Houston on Friday, the 2nd of October 2020. She was 102 years of age.
Amelia was born to Virginia Kentucky Williams and Andrew Clifford Freeman, both from prominent Milam County families. She graduated from Yoe High School with honors and attended Brantley Draughn Business School in Ft. Worth.
After graduation from business school, Amelia was employed for ten years by the Internal Revenue Service in Austin, Texas. Due to her excellent job performance, she was appointed the Deputy Collector of the IRS, the first woman to hold that position.
In 1946 Amelia married H. R. Leigh and they moved to Gonzales, Texas, where he operated a Ford Dealership. An award-winning Ford dealer for 34 years, he subsequently owned Ford dealerships in Alice and Round Rock.
Amelia returned with her husband to Austin in 1962 where she was active in many clubs, including the Austin Woman’s Club, the Highland Park Garden Club, the Magna Charta Dames, the Thankful Hubbard Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Colonial Dames of America, and the Huguenot Society.
Amelia was a loving daughter, wife, and mother, who devoted her life to taking care of others. From the time she was 18 years old she supported her mother and helped send her sister to college. After ten years in the workplace and with many marketable skills, Amelia devoted her life after her marriage to lovingly caring for her husband and three children. She made her home and garden a happy and welcoming place where her family could count on three delicious home cooked meals each day. After the death of her husband following a long illness, she managed her business affairs with skill and courage in an initially challenging economic environment. Ever adventurous, she began traveling to far away places, including Africa, Russia, and China. Eventually she traveled to almost every country in the world.
Preceded in death by her husband, she is survived by her daughters, Sandra Leigh Bryant and husband Randy, Linda Leigh Sylvan and husband Dick, and son Bill Leigh, all of Houston; grandchildren, Emily Bell Kramer and husband Doug of Summit, New Jersey, Amy Marie Lee and husband Jim of Houston, Leigh Sylvan Thoreen and husband Casey of Seattle, Washington; Carolyn Sylvan, Betsy Bryant and husband Allan Henslee, and Steven Bryant and wife Erica, all of Houston; and greatgrandchildren, Hunter and Harrison Lee; Kaitlin, Austin, and William Kramer; Ellison and Johannes “Joe” Thoreen; Emelia and Mackayla Henslee; Eliza Byrant; and numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews.
The family would like to express their appreciation for the loving care given to Amelia by Pearl Sam, Dee Shondee, Gazale Harris, and Shirley Thomas.
The family will gather for a private interment at Austin Memorial Park Cemetery in Austin, Texas.
Please visit Amelia’s online memorial tribute at GeoHLewis.com where memories and words of comfort and condolence may be shared electronically with her family.