Michael Robert Leo

‎Michael Robert Leo , a longtime Rye resident, died on June 25, 2024, from complications of Parkinson’s Disease. He was 81 years old.

‎He was born on January 22, 1943, to Charlotte and Adolph Leo in New York, NY. He grew up in Washington Heights and Queens where he spent his time on his paper route, playing stick and stoop ball, and cheering for the NY (baseball) Giants.

‎Michael went on to Columbia College where, at a mixer with Barnard College students, he met his future wife, Marcy Armstrong whom he married in 1966 . He then attended NYU Medical School from where he graduated in 1968. Following medical school, Michael and Marcy moved to Baltimore where Michael completed his internship at Johns Hopkins/Baltimore City Hospital.

‎In 1969, Michael and Marcy moved to Virginia, where Michael completed his military service with a rank of Captain in the Public Health Service.

‎Michael and Marcy returned to New York in 1971 for Michael to begin his ophthalmology residency, and later that year, their Son Benjamin was born.

‎Michael and Marcy moved to Rye in 1975, and in that same year Michael opened his private practice in Rye, specializing in disorders of the retina. In addition to a flourishing professional career, Michael was a dedicated exercise aficionado. In 1983, he discovered his true passion when he ran his first NYC Marathon. His family found him afterward, shivering and wrapped in tinfoil by the Museum of Natural History, and happy as a lark. By 2003, he had run 86 marathons. He also won his age group in several Rye Turkey Trots. Michael was a deep and early believer in the power of exercise to cure many ills and prescribed it often to both patients and friends as nature’s best medicine. Even as he battled Parkinson’s, he continued to exercise regularly and intensely, no doubt prolonging his life and slowing his symptoms.

‎Above all, however, Michael was a true family man. He loved being active and spent countless hours with all three of his children teaching them how to ski, how to play tennis, and how to swim in the waves of Jones Beach. Quite remarkably, he was home for dinner every night at 6 PM.

‎In later years, he found tremendous joy in doing many of the same activities with his beloved grandchild: Daniella. He shared many birthday celebrations with Daniella who was born 69 years and one day after him, and they battled each other in many cutthroat games of Monopoly.

‎Michael was an iconic figure, yet a remarkably gentle and kind soul. We miss him terribly!!

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