Although the mother of only one child, Caroline Leff became the adopted grandmother for every other child in her extended family. “In our generation there are dozens of cousins and second cousins, all devoted to my grandmother, and who spent a lot of time with her, ” said her granddaughter Sonya Mackintosh. “Even quite distant cousins thought of her as sort of the matriarch of the family.” Mrs. Leff, 100, known as Mady to her granddaughters and Aunt Ca to everyone else, was a volunteer with the Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic. She died of complications from previous illnesses on Monday, Dec. 8, in The Admiral at the Lake, a Chicago assisted living facility. Mrs. Leff, who grew up in Manitowoc, Wis., graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1927 and then spent some time teaching and traveling before meeting her husband, Bill, as she was returning by ship from Europe. They married in 1937 and moved to New York, where they welcomed their daughter, Mary, two years later. In 1950, they moved to Chicago and about a decade later Mrs. Leff began volunteering as a reader with Recording for the Blind. Her volunteer work continued into the 1990s. She volunteered as a reading aide for many years at Goudy School, near The Admiral where she moved in 1988. Her husband died in 1979 and her daughter, Mary Mackintosh, died in March. Other survivors include another granddaughter, Gabriel Mesquita; and numerous nieces, nephews, godchildren and cousins. A service will be held at 2 p.m. Friday in St. Chrysostom’s Episcopal Church, 1424 N. Dearborn St., Chicago.
VDAVE MOTTL JR., 56
Dave Mottl Jr., 56, a vice president of an office supplies company who became a licensed naprapath, died of lung cancer Friday, Dec. 5, in the Hospice of the North Shore in Skokie. Mr. Mottl was born in Norfolk, Va. He served in the Army during the Vietnam War. Mr. Mottl moved to Glenview after returning from overseas, following his family, who had an office supplies company. He worked for Mottl & Smith Office Products for more than 20 years. He continued as vice president of operations after he began studying for a doctorate in naprapathy, a practice that treats connective tissue disorders using manual manipulation and nutrition. “He would come in at 5:30 a.m. and do the operations thing and then go to school in the afternoons and study at night,” said Kent Smith, Mr. Mottl’s brother-in-law and vice president of marketing and sales at Mottl & Smith. “He was really pushing himself to graduate. He was very much interested in getting into a field where he could help others.” Mr. Mottl’s wife, Jane, said that she and her husband were planning to start a clinic in Illinois or New Mexico, the only two states where naprapathy is licensed. Other survivors include his parents, Dave Sr. and Shirley; and a sister, Sherry Smith. Visitation will be from 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday , followed by services, in Donnellan Family Funeral Home, 10045 Skokie Blvd., Skokie.
