Leonard M. Greenspan

Leonard M. Greenspan, 95, passed away on Monday, April 15, 2019. Leonard was born in Chicago in 1923, the son of immigrant Jewish parents who came from what is now Belarus. His father, Jacob, a respected doctor, passed away when Lenny was 6 years old. His mother, (Tauba), spoke little English and supported the family as a seamstress. Lenny served in the Navy during World War II in Hawthorne, NV.

He graduated from Roosevelt College in 1950 (B.S. in Commerce), and married Elaine that summer. Craving an adventure, they moved to Albuquerque for graduate school. Lenny received his M.A. in School Administration from UNM in 1953. He worked for 30 years for the Albuquerque Public Schools, initially as a junior high social studies teacher.

Lenny was selected as a Fulbright Exchange Teacher in 1958, and the family moved to England where he taught at Harehills County School in Leeds, England. They lived that year in Burley-in-Wharfedale in Yorkshire.

Leonard was the founding principal of Cleveland Junior High, which opened under his leadership in 1962. In 1970, Lenny took a leave of absence from APS and worked for the UNM Model Cities program, helping to establish child care centers for low-income youth. He then returned to APS as a principal before becoming an APS area-office administrator, eventually rising to the position of Director of Planning. In that job, he planned and acquired the sites for many future APS schools.

After arriving in NM, Lenny learned to fish. He fished many of the streams and lakes in NM. He bought a 4-wheel drive so he could fish at Latir Lakes. His favorite place to fish was at Vermejo Park Ranch with his close friend and fishing buddy, David Smoker.

After retirement, Lenny shared his love of travel by staffing the ACVB information booth at the Albuquerque Sunport. Lenny loved to play cards; he played tournament bridge but poker was his passion. After years of poker with APS colleagues, Lenny became a fixture in the poker room at Sandia Casino.

His most important life experience was marrying Elaine, who he knew from Chicago’s Humboldt Park. They raised three children in Albuquerque who, like their parents, left home to move elsewhere; daughter, Jan Kaufman and husband, David, children, Annessa and Daniel of Chevy Chase, MD; son, Todd Greenspan, and wife, Lany, son, Elliott in San Francisco, CA; son, Paul Greenspan and wife, Mindy, children, Lilly, Nika, and Sarah of Austin, TX. Predeceasing Leonard were his wife, Elaine; his sister, Florence Neidorf and her husband, Sam, and their sons, David and Jim.

Lenny and the family are also forever indebted to Rosa Flores who has provided Lenny the highest level of care over the last decade and has become an integral part of our family.

Services will be held Thursday, April 18, 2019, 1:30 p.m., at FRENCH-Wyoming. Interment will follow at Congregation Albert Section of Fairview Memorial Park, 700 Yale Blvd. SE. A Reception will follow at Yanni’s, 3109 Central. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Leonard's memory to the Parkinson’s Foundation or the NM Wildlife Federation.