Leighlin Gies' Obituary
Leighlin Louise Gies passed away in her sleep at home in Berkeley on July 21, 2019.
Born July 10, 1999 in Berkeley, CA, Leighlin did a lot of living in her 20 years. She embraced experiences and reveled in human connection, collecting friends and chosen family with her innate ability to reach into the heart of a person. She was a poet and an artist and a rogue taxidermist. She was a caregiver and survivor and an ardent cat-mama. She was an explorer and a deep thinker and a passionate activist. Her creativity was boundless and blended gracefully with a heavy dose of down-to-earth realism, and she shared both in spades. She was a hero. She was a giver. She was ours. And we were hers.
Leighlin lived her life according to her unwavering moral compass; she worked hard every day to do what she believed was right and still inspires her loved ones to do the same. She was a devoted daughter, sister, and friend, whose love leaves a permanent brand on every soul she touched. She will be lovingly remembered by her grandmothers Carolyn and Mary, mother Jill and father Bill, sisters Eliana and Lilian, brother Bill, cousins Teah, Devin, Jessie, Taylor, Logan, Jay and Indigo, uncle Alex, aunts Riki, Alisa, Jamie, Pam, and Sienna, best friends Caz, Tait, and Wren, and an immense community of extended family, friends, and neighbors.
Her family will be holding a private celebration of Leighlin’s life on Sunday, August 18th. Please contact Wren Irwin at [email protected] for more information.
We will miss our pirate faerie, our rebel angel, our vibrant soul. We’ll miss her more than words can ever express. But we will continue to choose and participate, and to carry on her story.
Donations to go towards the cost of her service can be contributed to the GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/leighlin-gies-life-celebration-fund
What’s your fondest memory of Leighlin?
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Share a story where Leighlin's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Leighlin you’ll never forget.
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