Leslie Anne Mizell

Leslie Anne Mizell, December 16th, 1962-February 14th, 2025.

Leslie died on February 14th in Eden, NC at the Eden Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center after a lengthy illness. She was guided home on a crystal-clear starlit night.

Leslie was born in St. Petersburg, Florida and adopted as an infant by Howard and Zane Mizell. Her parents asked the adoption agency for a child a little less busy than her older sister. She might not have been the active tomboy that her sister was, but her mind was always in overdrive. When she was small, she and her family moved from Florida to North Carolina, where her dad opened a hardware store. Leslie started preschool in Eden, where she could recite all the states and their capitals at four years of age. She attended the local public schools and then made her way to Wake Forest where she became an English major and helped run the film booth. After college, Leslie worked a variety of freelance jobs, including writing articles for numerous magazines, working for the Arts & Leisure section of the Greensboro News & Record as a film critic, and writing books reviewing early video games. She was an expert on vintage films and could recall an amazing breadth of detail about practically any film you could suggest. In her earlier years, Leslie also enjoyed travel and produced beautiful needlepoint art. She cultivated a wide circle of internet friends who lived all over the world.

In her later years, Leslie left her freelance work to help take care of our parents, which was much appreciated. A year ago or so, she experienced major health problems which initiated a slow decline. She leaves behind her sister Cindy and brother-in-law Don of Helena, Montana; niece Ellen and her children Paisley and Jackson of Independence, Oregon; nephew Cameron of Montrose, Colorado; and aunt Judy of St. Augustine, Florida. Our family would like to thank Leslie’s loyal circle of college friends, her faithful long-time friend Karen, her supportive online network, our loving church family, the wonderful caregivers at Eden Rehab and Hospice, and our lifelong family friends the Garretts for their support during her illness.

Leslie will be remembered for her quick wit, her steadfast loyalty to her friends, her unfailing generosity when choosing the perfect gift for every occasion, and her devotion to our parade of needy family pets over the years. A very small private family service will be held at the Church of the Epiphany in Eden officiated by minister Linda Nye. Memorials may be made to an animal rescue of one’s choice.