Megan Michelle Leaf

Mike and Debbie. I am so sorry to learn of Megan's passing. May she rest in the palm of our God's hands until you ate all reunited.

Megan was the most spirited, loving person with a contagious smile. We were privileged to know Meg since she was small and admired her tenacity and fortitude. We were so glad we got to visit with her last winter and hear about her Florida adventures.

In the short time that I knew Megan, I grew to love her. I looked forward to seeing her at all of our social events, but especially bingo. I was so happy that she won the jackpot at her last game. She was our ray of sunshine and everyone’s favorite. I will truly miss and never forget her. My heart and prayers go out to her family.

Dear Mike and Debbie, Pam and I send our deepest condolences and pray you find comfort in the memories of your beautiful daughter.


Pam & Jerry Schiavino, CHC 69’

Megan was beautiful inside and out. She had a heart filled with kindness and love for all. I’m blessed to have been part of Megan’s life since she was a small child. Megan was an inspiration to all who loved and knew her. Peace and comfort, Megan❤️‍🩹

It was such an honor to have the privilege of working with Meg. She truly loved riding and we were beyond proud of all of her accomplishments. We will miss you Meg💜

I am very sad to hear of her passing. We connected through NF connections. She was very supportive of us when our Lindsey passed away. She was a great warrior for what she believed.

I "met" Meg through an Anne of Green Gables/Lucy Maud Montgomery fan page. I am so sorry to hear of her passing. I picture her whole now and not in pain and certainly conversing with Maud herself.
Your family is in my prayers.

Dear Mike and Debbie, I am so sorry and heart broken to hear about my precious Meg. I was blessed to be her K teacher, by her friendship over the years and by her kind and loving heart, she so graciously shared with so many. When I had cancer surgery, Meg came to visit me at the hospital…when we lost our precious grandson, Meg often checked in just to say, hi. Meg brought me and everyone she knew, so much joy. I will miss my dear sweet “K” friend, who I love very much. May God Bless her precious soul. She will always and forever have a special place in my heart. Much love to you All.💓🙏🏼

There are so many things I could tell you about Megan, I don’t know where to begin! She was a very special person!! I’ve known Megan most of her life; as as a child with a gleam in her eyes and a smile on her face. I remember her playing Lite Brite a game she loved of eye and hand coordination; of putting colored pegs into little holes with letters indicating specific colors, that when lite created beautiful pictures. Who knew she was losing her eyesight!! She also loved for me to read her her favorite books ,Are You My Mother and a Magic eye for Ida! To this day , I can’t see these books without thinking of her!!Megan took pity on me and would always accompany me to the movies that nobody wanted to go see! Of coarse they were mostly kid movies!! As a reward to both of us we would head to Friendly’s at the mall for dinner. Megan never had a whole lot of things she like to eat but I would always count on grill cheese or chicken fingers!! But our favorite part of the meal was the Reese’s pieces sundae, we got alt the end !!! Megan was not much of a talker but I could see the glimmer in her eyes and the smirk on her face , as it came towards us; yummy!! I will never eat another Reese’s pieces sundae without you Meg!!Debbie and Mike were always so kind and gave me time to see Meg whenever they came into town.I could fill many pages with memories!! Like I said before, Megan was a special person, short on words but a heart full of gold! Megan may be gone but she will always live in my heart!!!!

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMORIES OF MEGAN MICHELLE LEAF

Megan Michelle Leaf was born at Harford Memorial Hospital in Havre de Grace Maryland on Saturday, February 7, 1981. She was the daughter of Deborah Lee Thomey Leaf and Michael Emmett Leaf and younger sister of Brigid Amanda Leaf. Megan and Brigid stayed very close sisters as adults, even though Megan lived in Maryland and Florida, and Brigid lived in New York City and London, England. Meg especially enjoyed a sisters’ trip to London.

Megan was a bright, adventurous, playful child who would say a bouncy “See ya tomorrow!” to end each day and a joyful “Good morning!” to greet each day as she woke up. Megan enjoyed gymnastics as a Tumble Bee, rode her own horse ( Blossom) on the family farm in Forest Hill , and was active in 4-H. Meg and her West Highland Terrier Molly won the dog obedience class Blue Ribbons at the Harford County Fair and the Maryland State Fair. She was a early and avid reader starting with her itty-bitty-book light in bed and her favorite character was Anne of Green Gables. She even finagled a family trip to Prince Edward Island, the home of Anne, her long held dream trip.

At four years old, her Free State Montessori School teachers informed Deb and Mike that Meg was bumping into things— including other children. This led to a local eye examination and immediatel referral to the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The doctors at Hopkins determined that Meg had an optic glioma as a result of neurofibromatosis (NF), a genetic disorder that can spawn tumors anywhere in the body. Megan received radiation treatment at Hopkins for the optic glioma but still lost all sight in her right eye. She received lifelong treatment for her neurofibromatosis and received semi- annual MRI’s throughout her life to determine if any new tumors developed. When Meg was 13, it was discovered that she had a brain tumor in the cerebellum which was successfully removed by Dr. Ben Carson at Johns Hopkins. That was just after she returned from a People To People Student Ambassador Program summer trip to Europe that included kissing the Blarney Stone – which may partly explain her speedy speech recovery after brain surgery.

Meg was a frequent overnight patient at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. Inspired by her boredom during her hospital stays, at age 10, Meg started Love Box, Ltd, a charitable corporation, to collect donations for shoe boxes filled with crayons, coloring books, toys and a Teddy Bear for patients at the Children’s Center. Megan decorated and assembled the Love Boxes and she and her mom Deb travelled 30 miles each way to deliver the Love Boxes to the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center on a monthly basis. For her work and contributions , Meg received national volunteerism awards from Pizza Hut, Prudential Insurance, and J.C. Penney. She also received a Governor’s Citation from William Donald Schaffer (Governor of Maryland), trips to Dallas and Disney World, and a White House visit where she, her parents and other award winners met President Clinton.
Meg became involved in the annual John Hopkins telethon. She served as co-chair and appeared and discussed neurofibromatosis on the broadcast of the annual Children’s Miracle Network telethon.

Meg, who loved school, attended Free State Montessori School, Forest Hill Elementary School, Fallston Middle School, and graduated from Bel Air High School in 1999.

Megan loved theater and performing. Her early performances included an elementary school talent show skit with her sister, Fiddler on the Roof at Phoenix Festival Theater, The Nutcracker, and shows at Saint Margaret’s. Megan performed as the Wicked Witch of the West at Fallston Middle School and was a member of the Bel Air High School Drama Company. She and her sister also learned a lot of musical theater showtunes from their mom.

Meg was a devoted advocate for Neurofibromatosis awareness and for finding a cure for NF. As a middle schooler, she wrote a speech about Neurofibromatosis and presented it to members of Lion’s Club, Rotary, and other organizations, usually at breakfast meetings before school. Megan was a tireless supporter of NF research and was a top fundraiser in many NF walks. She even convinced her parents to walk in several of the “Cupid’s Undie Runs” an annual event held near Valentines Day to benefit the Children’s Tumor Foundation. ( Her parents enjoyed the warm February walk in St. Petersburg , Florida much more than than the frigid February walk in Baltimore…) Megan spearheaded a New Years Eve gala at the Liriodendron Mansion organized by her parents and a dinner event in Little Italy to raise money for CTP and frequently solicited donations on Facebook.

Megan always loved working with children. She volunteered in her mom Debbie’s kindergarten class, and she and her sister had summer jobs as counselors at the John Archer Summer Camp for special needs children. She pursued her goal of working with children by attending Adelphi University in Garden City, New York and Wheelock College in Boston, graduating with a Bachelors degree in 2004.

After graduation from Wheelock College, Megan achieved her goal of working with children. She became employed as a para-educator by the Baltimore City Public Schools, and earned her Masters degree from the Notre Dame of Maryland University in Baltimore. She loved working at Roland Park Elementary Middle School for several years and then at Windsor Mill Elementary. She lived alone in Baltimore for 10 years in an apartment at 25th and St. Paul Street. Never able to drive because of her vision, she navigated Baltimore City on foot or by bus, cab, or mobility services. Due to deterioration in her condition, Meg accepted disability retirement in 2016.

Megan suffered a stroke in 2018 and was a patient at Johns Hopkins Hospital for one month. For a few days after her stroke, Megan could not speak at all but she and Brigid could communicate by America Sign Language which Debbie had taught them as toddlers. After completing in-patient rehabilitation, Meg moved back to Bel Air to live with her parents Deb and Mike and continued her recovery.

Deb, Mike and Megan visited Florida for winter visits 4 years in a row. In 2022, they stayed in Sarasota for three full months of January, February and March. Meg especially enjoyed the therapeutic horseback riding, pool , Gulf beaches and mini golf available in Sarasota. When it was time to pack up to return to Maryland, Megan said “Why do we have to go back to Maryland? Why don’t we stay here?” Mike and Debbie, who had never thought of living in Florida, agreed and they all moved to Lakewood Ranch in the Sarasota-Bradenton area.

Meg enjoyed the Florida lifestyle and activities, but suffered a second stroke on January 1, 2024 which significantly affected her mobility and balance.

As a stroke survivor, she was dauntless, and worked extremely hard in physical therapy and occupational therapy to recover her mobility and be able to continue her hobbies. She loved to play miniature golf, card games, and board game but most enjoyed winning the pot at Bingo. She also engaged in therapeutic horseback riding in Harford County and in Florida. Meg loved embroidery and other arts and crafts and baking, and bestowed her works and goodies as gifts to friends (especially her doctor and therapist friends) and family. Meg was always a reader. She read book after book after book; when dinner was ready would often say “let me finish this chapter!”

Megan was friendly to everyone, and a caring friend.
As a 6 month old infant, Meg was introduced to her first lifelong and closest friend, Miss Irma (Maged), who cheered and supported Meg through her childhood and adulthood. Meg and Miss Irma would often go to the movies and every trip included a stop at Friendly’s in Harford Mall for ice cream sundaes.
Meg met her very close friend Rachel Greene when they were students at Wheelock College. Even though Rachel lived in Buffalo, New York, she and Meg kept in touch and visited each other over the years, with their last visit in Florida in 2026.
Megan remained a friend of some of her teachers. Megan had a special relationship with many of her doctors but most especially her neuro-oncologist Jaishri Blakely, M.D., the Marjorie Bloomberg Tiven Professor of Neurofibromatosis at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Megan was extremely happy to reunite with Dr. Blakely in Florida when she attended an NF symposium in Tampa.

On June 13, 2026, Megan was the victim of a severe intracranial brain hemorrhage. She passed away peacefully the next day with her parents by her side.

Megan was an organ donor, and she directed that the majority of her savings go to Johns Hopkins University, Department of Neurology, to benefit the Neurofibromatosis research of Dr. Jaishri Blakely and to the Childrens Tumor Foundation. Meg would encourage you to donate to one or both of these beneficiaries.

A Celebration of the Life of Megan Michelle Leaf will be held on Sunday, August 2, 2026 from 1 to 4 PM at the Liriodendron Mansion, 502 West Gordon Street, Bel Air, Maryland. Fittingly, the Liriodendron is the summer home built for Dr. Howard Kelly, a surgeon and one of the 4 founders of the Johns Hopkins.