Christine Ann Leigh died at her home in Truro on Jan. 28, 2022. She had recently been released from Cape Cod Hospital, where she had been treated for pneumonia. She was 80.
Born in the Bronx on Oct. 28, 1941, Christine Ann Johnson was the second daughter of Emil and Sonja Johnson. Chris was raised in the small town of Brewster, N.Y. She attended local schools there and following high school went on to graduate from Buffalo State University with a degree in art education in 1963.
She roomed with her newfound friend Pat Wallace Grando while at college; the two studied art together through a university program in Siena, Italy. They remained close friends to the end. With Chris’s long blond hair and Pat’s black hair, they were known back then as “Betty and Veronica,” after the two friends and rivals in the Archie Comics.
In the summer of 1962, while the two young women were visiting Provincetown, Chris met Chuck Leigh. Leigh remembers following Chris down Commercial Street after he spotted her walking with her friend. They chatted briefly and exchanged numbers, and Chuck invited the girls to go on a dune buggy ride.
Chris and Chuck were married at Hyannis Town Hall in the fall of 1963. They honeymooned in Provincetown, spending their days fishing for striped bass from the beach.
The couple lived on Long Island for a while, where Chris pursued her interest in painting and Chuck ran a small construction business. Chris’s painting evolved into ceramics, which she sold at local craft shows, and she became interested in stained-glass art. She taught herself how to work with the materials and, as with everything else she did, excelled at it, her husband said.
Chris began selling her stained-glass creations, and after Chuck was injured and unable to continue his construction work, he helped. The two traveled the East Coast, selling Chris’s stained glass at juried exhibitions. She won awards and high praise from discerning collectors, and her techniques were written about in Newsday.
Chris also continued painting and loved to experiment with new art forms. She taught herself the art of cloisonné, for instance, and made traditional Ukrainian Pysanky eggs. Her oil paintings were the basis for many of the designs she produced in those disciplines.
She was not afraid of hard work and was adept at carpentry and masonry. One of her projects was the design and installation of a sculptural brick patio at her Truro home. She was also instrumental in the creation of the Truro Swap Shop, drawing Chuck into the project. Using his knowledge of the local real estate market, he found someone to donate a building and move it to the town dump site.
Chris often joined Chuck in surf fishing for striped bass or flounder fishing from the Provincetown wharf in the fall, which she loved.
She is survived by her son Noah and husband, Chuck, of Truro.
Chris was predeceased by her son Adam and sister, Barbara, as well as by her parents.
In accordance with her wishes, there will be no memorial services. Her ashes will be placed on the back shore, in one of her favorite places, near those of her son and her sister.
