Leslie Van Cleve

With family by her side, Leslie M. Van Cleve of Durango, peacefully passed away early Sunday morning, November 5, 2023. She was 88. Leslie was born in Worcester, Massachusetts on September 13, 1935. She was the daughter of Elizabeth Proctor Morrison and Donald Gordon Morrison. She spent her early childhood in Massachusetts before moving to Miami, Florida, where she graduated with honors from Coral Gables High School in 1953.

A few short years later, Leslie made her way to California where she met and married the love of her life, Richard L. “Dick” Van Cleve. Les and Dick spent their life together in Southern California, raising their children, Elizabeth and Gordy, supporting the University of Southern California, and playing golf. Leslie was a Scout leader, a football mom, and a great golfer, captaining the ladies team at Oakmont Country Club for many years. Les and Dick were also very fortunate to be able to travel to many beautiful and exotic places all over the world. One such adventure took them to Great Bear Lake in the Arctic Circle, where Leslie very proudly caught an 18” Arctic Grayling. In Scotland, Leslie had the thrill of lifetime getting to play the links of The Old Course at St. Andrews, one of the oldest courses in the world and the “home of golf.” Many other adventures included Spain, Peru, Hong Kong, Japan, and a favorite, Hawaii.

In later years, Les and Dick retired to the beautiful Santa Ynez Valley on the Central Coast of California, where Leslie enjoyed her friends, her volunteer work as a docent at the Elverhoy Museum, and tending her many beautiful roses. In 2006, Leslie moved to Durango to be closer to her family. She spent 17 happy years with her “Durango Family,” which include daughter and son-in-law Elizabeth and Jimmy McClung; granddaughter and husband Shannon and Ethan Hinkley; and grandson and wife, Matthew and Amber McClung, now of Phoenix, Arizona and her adored five great-grandchildren, Samuel, Benjamin, James, Ryder and Mira.

Leslie was preceded in death by her husband, and her son, Gordon Van Cleve.

Leslie’s family plans to celebrate her life at a later date in Solvang, California, where she will be laid to rest beside her beloved husband.