Marianne Artusio

Marianne Artusio, who was raised in Pelham and lived in Pelham Manor since 1980, died peacefully on March 7, after a short illness. She was 79. Born on September 3, 1946, to Dr. Joseph and Marylou Artusio, Marianne lived in Pelham from 1950 until 1971.

Marianne was an incredibly selfless, generous and kind person who only wanted to help others and make the world a better place. She succeeded. She had a most purposeful and meaningful life, particularly in advocating for and supporting the most vulnerable among us. She won numerous cases on behalf of those less fortunate. Marianne exemplified what it means to be both a good person and lawyer.

An excellent student at Ursuline High School and then at Vassar College, Marianne graduated from Cornell Law School, where she was active in the Legal Aid Clinic. She then, in 1971, became a staff attorney in Rochester at Monroe County Legal Assistance Corporation, a legal services for the poor organization, where she provided exceptional civil legal services to people in poverty. It was there that she met David Leven, who was then Deputy Director of the organization. They married in 1975. In 1980, they moved to Pelham Manor.

In 1980 Marianne became a staff attorney at Westchester Legal Services, another civil legal services organization, where she worked until 1988. There she started an elder law clinic in conjunction with Pace Law School. In 1988 she became a law school professor at Touro Law School. There she became the Director of Clinical Programs while also directing an elder law clinic. Hundreds of students benefited from her extraordinary teaching and supervision. After retiring from the law school in 2022, she continued to teach courses periodically. At the law school she was known, according to a former dean, as “always the first to help anyone in need. Her passion for using the law to help people was unmatched”.

Marianne was one of a kind when it came to volunteering. She became the unpaid guardian of a man on Long Island and over the years spent hundreds of hours, many half days, driving to his home to take him food shopping and to doctor appointments. She was a weekly volunteer for County Harvest, based in Pelham, delivering food from grocery stores to food banks. She was a volunteer for Hearts and Homes for Refugees, also based in Pelham, and Neighbors Link. She represented people, mostly Afghanistan refugees, in various legal proceedings. And she took adult refugees to doctor and employment appointments and to get clothes, as well as driving children to school and picking them up. She spent scores of hours helping high school students prepare for moot court arguments. She prepared large lasagnas for an organization, Lasagna Love, sometimes every two weeks, and she delivered them to people less fortunate, in Westchester and the Bronx, starting during the pandemic.

Relatives and friends understandably called Marianne Saint Marianne. She was beautiful on the outside, but much more importantly she was beautiful on the inside. As hard as she worked to do good for so many, family was a priority and she loved being with her many relatives as well as friends. She deeply loved summer trips to Doc’s Island (named after her doctor dad) in Sharbot Lake, Canada, to be with family at the cottage. And she loved attending family weddings and graduations.

Marianne was a voracious reader and life long learner and loved reading historical non fiction, while enjoying many animal TV shows. She thoroughly enjoyed opera, ballet, classical and other music Marianne was an excellent swimmer, swimming up to a mile several times a week. She enjoyed traveling and had wonderful winter trips in recent years to Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and FL. The last family trip, courtesy of her generous daughter Carolyn and son-in-law Ken, was to Mexico in December, where the family celebrated several milestones, including Marianne and David’s 50th wedding anniversary.

Marianne is survived by her loving husband David, by two wonderful and devoted children, Carolyn Leven and Carson Leven, son-in-law Ken Shiraiwa and daughter-in law Victoria (Tori) King, and granddaughter Frankie Leven. She is also survived by her 5 loving siblings, Suzanne MacIntyre and her husband Neil, Joseph (Tad) Artusio and his wife Doris, Evelyn (Lyn) Artusio, Mark Artusio and Douglas Artusio and his wife Beth. Additional survivors are numerous adoring nephews and nieces as well as countless friends.

A memorial celebration will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Rhizome Center for Migrants, Hearts and Homes for Refugees, International Rescue Committee, Women for Aghan Women or St. Anthony Foundation (SF).