Elizabeth

Elizabeth "Leigh" Shields, of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Laurel Hollow, N.Y., passed away Nov. 19, 2011, after a six-year bout with primary lateral sclerosis, and a more recent 7-month fight with liver cancer. She was 74.

Formerly Elizabeth Lee Weil – also lovingly known as "Lee Lee," Elizabeth, Leigh, Mom and Mame – was born in Grand Rapids, Mich. She was the daughter of newspaper family Louis A. Weil, Jr. and Kathryn Halligan, former residents of the Valley, and sister to former Arizona Republic publisher, Louis "Chip" Weil III, and his wife Daryl.

She was a graduate of East Grand Rapids High School, graduated from Marymount University and attended Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She delighted in an ever-expanding family – raising seven children in the north woods of Wisconsin and later settling in Carmel Valley, Calif. and finally, Scottsdale.

A musician, she was a pianist, wrote songs and would regale with tunes. An artist, she was an avid painter and enjoyed painting with her "Three Broads' Strokes" posse in Scottsdale. A writer, she wrote two books chronicling life's chaos, peace and pace amidst a "Brady Bunch" family in the woods of Lac du Flambeau, Wisc.

She was a sharp-witted story and joke teller, and her laughter filled a room. She shared her passions for golf, Italian cuisine and New York ball clubs with her husband Bob. She loved Lake Michigan, its wild beauty, its dunes, fresh breezes and brilliant sunsets.