One of life's greatest treasures is to know a person who has an open heart, significant intellectual curiosity, and a profoundly elegant soul. Leslie Anne Kubic embodied all these qualities, along with a lifelong drive to provide service to others. Leslie passed away on June 14th, 2024 surrounded by loving family at the age of 64 — which all who love her agree was much too soon. 

Leslie was born in Kingston, NY, on Dec 29, 1959 to Frank and Anne (McGowan) Kubic, the first of six children. Her father was an engineer and her mother was a registered nurse and homemaker. Leslie grew up in Bowie, Maryland in a brand-new, sprawling, post-war housing development, with 4 models of houses, and no trees. The neighborhood had many large families and an open-door policy. A child could go to any mother for anything; Leslie's mother was the one for band-aids. Kids were told to go out and play after breakfast and come back for lunch. 

Childhood and adolescence were characterized by a combination of a highly structured, yet somewhat progressive, family life and considerable freedom which contributed to Leslie's free spirited nature. Leslie was not a complete wild child, but was more of a rule-follower by nature, despite occasional departures. At home, Leslie often cared for her younger siblings: 4 brothers and a sister. She helped her mother a lot. Her siblings have always looked to her for help and guidance on health and other big life decisions. 

After graduating high school, Leslie followed her mother, grand-mother, and maternal great-aunt into nursing. She moved to Washington, DC to study at the Washington Hospital Center School of Nursing. There she made a number of good friends, particularly a group called The Four Graces: Laura, Terri, Betsy, and Leslie. They remained lifelong friends. 

A series of personal events ignited in Leslie a fierce interest in women's health care and she was determined to become a midwife after nursing school. As a recent nursing graduate, Leslie knew she could only get a job on the front lines of obstetrics if she went to a rural area where there was a high need for nurses. With that goal in mind, at age 20, Leslie took her first job in the mining town of Hazard, Kentucky at Hazard Appalachian Regional Hospital. Having trained at a major medical center, she was shocked when she saw that the obstetric practices in Hazard were significantly behind the times. She described sitting with her hand on a woman's belly, counting the minutes between contractions with a wrist watch and listening to the baby's heartbeat with a feto-scope. 

Her stay in Hazard was Leslie's first time living on her own and so far from home, which presented some serious challenges. For example, she unknowingly rented a rat-infested house from the local general surgeon who refused to fix the problem until she sought help from legal aid. She prevailed in the end. 

Despite the difficulties of adapting to a new culture in Hazard, Leslie managed to make a few friends and to learn the art and science of caring for women in active childbirth. 

A turning point in Leslie's life came when she worked as an assistant nurse at Shire Village Camp in Cummington, Massachusetts. This job brought her to New England, introduced her to many treasured friends, and gave her the joy of classic camp experiences like reading the starry sky, sitting around the campfire, and living in the barn. When she was not attending to campers as a nurse, Leslie could be found in the kitchen where she learned how to cook, eventually working as head cook for several summers. 

During her decade of OB nursing experience, Leslie's interest in midwifery changed as the work she did in women's reproductive health care evolved. Her last job in nursing was working with homeless, pregnant, substance-addicted women in Holyoke, Massachusetts. There she would start the job as early as 6 a.m., picking her clients up from the street and taking them to breakfast. That wasn't the program, but it was her way to try to persuade them to accept prenatal care. She realized that only further training would let her provide the range of care needed by women she worked with. 

In 1991 Leslie enrolled in the Wake Forest University School of Medicine Physician Assistant program, graduating with honors. She had won a scholarship through the National Health Service Corps, which enabled her to attend PA school, in exchange for a 2-year service obligation. She returned to Appalachia and worked in primary care at the Carl Johnson Medical Center in Huntington, West Virginia. She worked for the next decade in primary care. In 2005, she entered the surgical physician assistant program at Norwalk Hospital/Yale University School of Medicine. She spent the rest of her career - the period she found the most rewarding - working as a surgical PA in the North Shore area of Massachusetts.

Leslie's life wasn't all career. She lived for a time in Mexico; she was a horse packer one summer for the National Outdoor Leadership School in Wyoming; she took trips to France; having started to study Italian seriously at age 50, she traveled to Italy, too. She loved all creatures - especially dogs and cats, horses and sheep. She loved planting gardens and trees, from street trees to her cherished bonsai collection. She was endlessly curious about all things from cephalopods to geology to meteorology. She had a keen sense of direction, which Leslie said mirrored her life: "I didn't lose my way. I managed to pull it off. I always considered my life a string of miracles. About every decade, there would be a shift, whether it be career, avocation or personal life. I was a nurse for 11 years, I was a primary care PA for 11 years and a surgical PA for more, but there were these intervals, these epochs, and each one bent in a positive direction." 

She is survived by her devoted and adored daughter, Eleanor Anne Massé Roccio; five younger siblings, Thomas, Peter, Elizabeth, Christopher, and David; her beloved sisters-in-law, Pat, Lori, Rachel, and Kelley; and her brother-in-law, lan. She has many wonderful nieces and nephews: Kellie and husband Chris; Stephanie and husband Stephen and their daughter Lyndsey and son Bradley; Christopher Michael, Rachele, Tobias, Sarah, Peter Ryan and his daughter Haislee, Julianne, Grace, Jenna, and Jack. Additionally she is survived by her lovely cousins, Kelley McGowan and husband Michael, Jeffery McGowan, Jan Fox, Timothy and Heidi Fox, Julie Beren, husband Scott and son Harvey. She is also survived by her former husband, Richard Roccio. 

As she drafted this obituary, Leslie wanted to affirm that each and every person in her family showed up for her. She promised to be eternally grateful for their devotion, and for the depth and breadth of care that each of them provided during her illness and time of need. 

Leslie wants to recognize the valued cast of characters in her life who have meant so much to her many beloved friends and colleagues, near and far, who were companions throughout life and who came to her aid when she needed it: Claire, Jane, Eddie, Larry, Robin, Charlene, Marty and Alice, Andy, Skip, and many others too numerous to name, including mentors and colleagues from her medical career. 

Leslie was loved by many and despite being what she referred to as a "socialized introvert," she always had the ability to connect with people of all kinds. She credits this skill with helping her go as far as she did in service to others. 

Leslie and her family wish to acknowledge the exceptional care she received from the oncology team at Massachusetts General Hospital, as well as the compassionate hospice care that she received from Care Dimensions. 

Funeral arrangements will be private and will take place in Charles Town, West Virginia, to be arranged at a later date in the fall. Friends and family are welcome to attend. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made on behalf of Blue Ridge Wildlife Center in Boyce, Virginia.

see the link below under donations.

                                                        "Love is the bridge between you and everything" - Rumi