IL SR1330

Johanna "Hanny" Leitson, age 96, passed away on April 1, 2022, and the Illinois Senate expresses condolences to her family and loved ones.

Born in Vienna, Austria, she fled at age 13 on the Kindertransport in May 1939, transporting 10,000 Jewish children to England, and later moved to New York in 1944.

Earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan, working as a social worker and therapist in Flint, Michigan and Ann Arbor.

Engaged in civil rights activism as a university student and early opponent of the Vietnam War, including attendance at the first nationwide Day of Protest in Chicago in 1964; helped establish Flint's Planned Parenthood chapter.

Survived by three children, six grandchildren, and one great-grandchild; spent her final 14 years in Oak Park, Illinois.