Leo Okin died of lung cancer on July 30, 2006 at his home in Mesa, Ariz. He was born in Divinsk, Latvia in 1923.
When Leo was seven years old, his family emigrated to the United States, and Leo spent his youth in Brooklyn. He started his career as a social worker at Bellevue Hospital in New York and joined the army at the beginning of World War II.
After the war, Leo married Ruth, his wife of 59 years. He worked for a number of Jewish centers on the East Coast before moving to California in the 1950s to work for the Jewish Welfare Board in San Francisco.
In 1965, Leo was hired as executive director of the Seattle Jewish Community Center. At that time the JCC had a one-room office in downtown Seattle and Leo envisioned building a center on Mercer Island. That vision became a reality in 1968.
Leo was a lifelong learner and teacher. He received a Bachelor’s degree from New York University, a Master’s degree in Social Work from Columbia University and a Doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, where he wrote a thesis on the prospects of Jews and Arabs living in peace in the Middle East. He later taught at William and Mary College in Norfolk, Virginia.
After his retirement from the JCC at the age of 53, Leo devoted his time to his family, real-estate investment and travel. He and Ruth traveled throughout the world. In addition to their home in Seattle, he and Ruth had homes in Phoenix and Jerusalem.
Leo is survived by his wife, Ruth; daughters Phyllis Rock, Margret Rosenberg, Sandy Lior, and Helanie Webman; 11 grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.
Donations in his memory may be sent to the Stroum Jewish Community Center.