Lea Bleyman and her daughter Anne on their tour of Oregon following the 2003 meeting joint meeting of Society of Protozoologists and the Phycolological Society of America. At that meeting Lea Bleyman gave her Past President’s Address “The Accidental Protistologist – My Journey Through the World of Ciliates”.
Lea K. Bleyman on November 6, 2020, three days short of her 84th birthday. Professor Emerita, Department of Natural Sciences, Baruch College; past-President International Society of Protozoologists (as it was then known). Lea was born in Halle, Germany, November 9, 1936. Escaping with her family to France in 1939, just before WWII, Lea spent time sheltered in OSE homes (for Jewish orphans) before a stint as a hidden child, living in a convent and on a farm to protect her from Nazi terror. Post-War, reunited with her parents and two older sisters, she started a new life in 1946 in NYC. Lea attended Brandeis on a full scholarship. She earned a Ph.D. in Genetics at Indiana University in 1966. As a professor, Lea delighted in instructing her students, which she far preferred to her year serving as Chair of the Department. Away from the classroom or the lab, Lea was known for her vivacity. She was a voracious reader, and she subscribed to the NY Times primarily for the crosswords and other puzzles which she completed in ink. Lea loved opera, cats, theater, college sports, sharing learning experiences with new friends in Shakespeare and opera classes, and getting letters to the editor published in the NY Times. Survived by her daughter, Anne Bleyman; her husband, David Minn; sister Eve Kugler; nieces and nephews.
Donations in her memory may go to:
(1) Brandeis University
https://alumni.brandeis.edu/giving/how/index.html
(2) Carolina Tiger Rescue
https://carolinatigerrescue.org/membership-giving/more-ways-to-give/memorial-honor-gifts/memorial-donations/memory/
(3) Anti-Defamation League
https://www.adl.org/ways-to-give/give-to-adl-in-honor-or-in-memory
(4) Friends and Alumni of OSE-USA INC
c/o Matt Fein
5426 Marsh Hawk Way
Columbia, MD 21045-2245
(410) 707-5865