Helen Gayle Leighton

PORTLAND – Helen Gayle Leighton, 79, passed away Oct. 10, 2023, in Portland, surrounded by her loving family.

Helen was born April 5, 1944, in Portland and raised on Peaks Island. Her parents were Marguerite (Reardon) Clark and Fred Clark, both deceased.

Helen graduated from Portland High School in 1962. She then went to work at Canal Bank in Portland. She married John E. Leighton in 1962, they were married for 61 years. They had three children, Dawn Leighton who was murdered in 1998, Julie Chouinard, and John E. Leighton, Jr.

She worked at Zayre’s Department Store and Peerless Insurance while raising her family. Helen enjoyed painting ceramics and she was a parishioner at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Helen was also a lifetime member of the National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children.

Helen bravely fought cancer for 12 years of her life. John and Helen wintered in Venice, Fla. for nine years.

She is survived by her husband, John; her daughter, Julie, son-in-law, David and her son, John Jr.

Services will be private.

Helen was a lover of all animals and especially greyhounds, so any

donations may be sent in Helen’s memory to:

Maine Greyhound Placement Service, and

checks can be mailed to:

MGPS

231 Old Belgrade Rd.,

Augusta, ME 04330.

Please make a note on the check that it is in

Helen’s memory.

Share your condolences, kind words and remembrances below. You must be logged into the website to comment. Subscribers, please login. Not a subscriber? Register to comment for free or subscribe to support our work.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.