Leigh Mollenhoff

Leigh Helgesen Mollenhoff, 83, passed peacefully from this earth at her home on Sunday, June 15, 2025, after a three-year battle with a rare and aggressive lymphoma.

She was born on June 21, 1941, to Lester and Phyllis Helgesen of Janesville, Wis., and grew up there. Leigh graduated from Janesville High School in 1959 and then attended Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. There she pledged Alpha Phi Sorority and later served as its president, was selected as Miss Drake in her junior year, and was admitted to Phi Beta Kappa in her senior year. She graduated with a B.A. degree in 1963.

Leigh met her future husband when they were students at Drake. Upon graduation both received graduate fellowships, Leigh at the University of Texas-Austin and Dave at Yale. However, absence made Dave’s heart grow ever fonder, and so he proposed during Thanksgiving 1963, and she accepted. A few months later they decided to finish their graduate work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They were married on June 20, 1964, in Janesville, and moved into a small apartment in Madison. Leigh received her M.A. in Iberio-American Studies in 1965.

Family, friends, and home were always the primary focus of her life. She was a great mother to her children, and she doted over her grandchildren. She extended her love to her children’s friends. She always thought of others and found ways to extend big and little acts of kindness to them. She took food to the elderly and the sick. She made sure that everyone got birthday and anniversary cards. She nurtured her many friends with telephone calls, letters, and emails. She had a knack for connecting friends she thought would be good for each other. Leigh was widely known for her gracious entertaining and her delicious cooking.

Leigh was an avid tennis player for 30 years until a tennis injury required her to give up the sport. But her beloved tennis friendships endured.

In spite of her strong commitment to her family, Leigh managed to have a remarkable career. During her early marriage years, she taught civics and English at Evansville (Wisconsin) High School, and civics and world cultures at East High School in Madison. Then she became a real estate broker and worked for First Weber for 40 years. Leigh was no ordinary realtor; nearly all of her clients became her friends, and she would frequently have them for dinner at her home. Leigh and her husband developed The Fauerbach, Madison’s first downtown luxury condominium project, and she developed subdivisions in counties around Madison. With her husband, Leigh owned and managed residential income property.

Leigh believed that citizens have a duty to know what is going on in their community, to get involved, and to make it better. Toward that end, she founded Historic Madison Inc., Madison’s historical society, she was a member of Madison Landmarks Commission for eight years, and she served as president of the Marquette Neighborhood Association, the group that spearheaded the revitalization of this now popular central city area. She also chaired the committee that persuaded the school board to keep the neighborhood elementary school open against the advice of the superintendent. The school is still thriving.

Leigh also believed that all humans are children of the same loving God, and that we are, therefore, all brothers and sisters. This is why she loved to travel internationally and why she and her husband became host families for students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from India, Japan, and Russia.

Leigh’s ability to do so much in just one lifetime was propelled by several personal qualities. She was super organized, a conspicuous leader, a natural public speaker, and possessed splendid judgment. She always had good ideas on how to accomplish challenging tasks. Her ability to make and retain friends was legendary. She possessed a deep religious faith and rock-solid values that guided her throughout her life.

A longtime friend of Leigh’s recently reflected on her exemplary life and concluded that “she made everything around her better and all of us happier.” Indeed, she did! She will be greatly missed by all who knew her!

She is survived by her husband, David Mollenhoff; her daughter, Kristin Mollenhoff of Madison; her son, Peter Mollenhoff of Madison; her grandson, Grant Cain of Madison; step-grandsons, Brendan Cain of San Diego, Calif., Owen Cain, Declan Cain, and Finn Cain, all of Hinsdale, Ill.; sisters, Kathy Canary of Madison; Lexi Bartolomei and her husband, Edward of San Antonio, Texas, Debbie Duffey and her husband, Michael of La Jolla, Calif.; brother, Steven Helgesen of Blanchardville, Wis.; and many wonderful nephews and nieces and grand-nephews and nieces.

A private family graveside service was held at Forest Hill Cemetery in Madison on June 18, 2025, and a Celebration of Life will be held at Christ Presbyterian Church in Madison later this summer at a time to be announced.

The family wishes to thank two doctors at U W Health, Julie Chang and Jeanette Comstock, for their astute care during Leigh’s treatment years, and the angels who masquerade as Agrace hospice employees.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Leigh’s name to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society by going to their website (LLS.org).

Cress Funeral and Cremation Services

608-238-3434