Jean Leppard sometimes had unconventional ideas, but she was much admired for them, and for her career in education in general.
Jean had a great talent for arousing enthusiasm for mathematics in her students. She once handed out “magic pencils” to her more timid grade 13’s before they wrote their final exams.
Jean was the second woman president of O.A.T.M. and ran meetings with great style. Instead of asking for volunteers to do tasks, she’d decide in advance who would do the job best - then ask that person to volunteer. And no one refused.
Jean grew up near Cayuga, Ontario, and went to a one-room schoolhouse in Decewsville. Her degree was from the University of Toronto. She taught, and was department head, at Fergus H.S. and at Vaughan Road C.I. in Toronto.  In the lean job years of the 1930’s, she was chosen for the Fergus job ahead of 400 other applicants.
Jean helped organize the N.C.T.M. convention in Toronto in 1981. She spent many hours doing lesson preparation and travelling from Toronto to the University of Waterloo for lectures on “New Math”. She always enjoyed helping students in a host of extracurricular programs.