Mildred E. Leaning

Mildred E. (Johnson) Leaning, 90, died on July 4, 2022.
Born on January 14, 1932 to Olaf and Ragna (Nilsen) Johnson. Mildred grew up in Providence, RI and Springfield, MA with two siblings (Sylvia and Harry) in the environment of the family business, Johnson’s Bakery. She graduated Classical High School and University of Rochester and began a lifelong career in dental hygiene. She married John Leaning in 1958 and raised two sons, numerous pets and an organic garden in Monson, MA. She developed a large network of friendships through her work in the dental office of George Nieske and in the faculty of Wilbraham Academy, where John taught. Widowed in 1987, she took up painting and traveling, each of which brought her great joy and still more friendships. She became a skilled painter and traveled to five continents, all after her late fifties.
She leaves two sons Kenneth and Keith; a step-son John and a step-daughter Jennifer, three grandchildren, a sister and brother-in-law, nephews, nieces, great nieces and nephews, an extended step-family and many cherished friends and extended relatives and her life-long companion, her piano. There will be a small family ceremony in the fall. If you’d like to honor Mildred’s memory, please do something kind in some way. She loved people, music, art, nature, life and laughter and shared her connection to these things through kindness. Peace to you.
New England Funeral & Cremation Center, LLC, 25 Mill Street, Springfield, MA has been entrusted with the arrangements. Please visit Mildred’s memorial page at www.nefcc.net for expressions of sympathy.
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