A Remembrance of Ben Leichtling

Ben H. Leichtling, Ph.D., 85, died at home surrounded by family on August 15, 2025, after a brief illness. He spent time at the end doling out advice to loved ones and assigning essays about philosophy to grandkids.

Ben was born and grew up in NYC, moving from Brooklyn to the Lower East Side, and then to the area near Lincoln Center. As a young child, he enjoyed solo subway trips to Coney Island and Ebbets Field. He always found fun for himself, riding rollercoasters by the ocean and playing handball, stickball, and stoop ball in the neighborhood. Jackie Robinson was and remained his hero all his life, but he never forgave the Dodgers organization for abandoning him and NY. His parents (Roslyn and Stanley) exposed him and his four brothers (Michael, Lee, Ely, and David) to countless (mostly free) cultural events, museums, and books. He honed his life skills during Sunday afternoon “killer” anagrams with family and in lively family debates. And he learned the importance of closely observing those around him and standing up for himself and others with neighborhood bullies. 

Ben graduated from Bronx High School of Science, setting him on a path as a biochemist and lifelong researcher of many topics. He earned his undergraduate degree from Clarkson College and then a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Northwestern University. His first career included directing biomedical research laboratories for 23 years at universities and teaching hospitals. Before he turned 50, Ben experienced two heart attacks within six months. In a successful effort to avoid open heart surgery, he changed his life methodically over the next several years toward health and joy. As his cardiologist said just last year, “it is a miracle that Ben is alive.” Following intensive self-study in behavioral and psychological therapies, Ben began his second career as a life coach and psychotherapist, helping others find joy and overcome emotional bullies. He saw the value in using YouTube videos to communicate his ideas long before it became the standard, and his self-published books and YouTube channel brought him clients around the world. He was an excellent listener and lived his mission to stimulate people’s minds to be true to themselves. He cared deeply about his clients’ work toward self-determination, and about helping his many clients increase their courage, strength, and perseverance. Ben worked until the very end of his life, doing what brought him joy and came naturally.

Ben raised his children (treating each of his children and stepchildren with nearly six decades of unconditional love) in Denver with his wife, Donna, in a lively home full of life lessons and including backyard crops, chore lists, homemade furniture, antinuclear marches, occasional lectures, and summer excursions in a 1960’s-era VW van affectionately named Bathsheba. He was also a dedicated, active, and beloved grandfather who enjoyed playing invented games and activities with his grandchildren, including instigating giant water gun fights and spending days with them at Water World, and enjoyed exploring their thoughts about all things, while also imparting a bit of wisdom.

Ben was a lifetime learner who enjoyed studying and discussing history, ecology, spirituality, and other topics, with people he respected. He seemed to know something about any topic that came up in conversation. He was curious and interested in people and famous for striking up surprisingly deep conversations with nearly everyone he met. His family was accustomed to waiting to be seated at restaurants while he forged meaningful connections with hosts, servers, and restaurateurs. He gave advice freely to strangers, and often changed their lives for the better (as they later reported). Ben believed everyone should work hard and take care of each other, seek joy in everyday life, and find and follow what motivates and interests them. He had little tolerance for nonsense or narcissists. He loved chocolate, sushi, sea creatures, trebuchets, the beach, and conversations about how to live a fulfilling life.

He will be deeply missed by his wife, Donna; his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren Karan (Patrick Merewether) Pond (Emily and Molly) of Wheat Ridge; Jeff (Sandi) Pond (Margot, Reily, and Zőee) of Monroe, WI; Adam (Ivonne) Leichtling (Anais and Amelie) of Miami Beach; Jon (Jackie) Pond (Madison; Cara and her daughter Everleigh; and Kristina and her sons: Lawson, Tanner, Brody, Leighlan, and Koda) of Orlando; Gillian Leichtling (Susan Remmers) of Portland, OR; and Robyn (Alan) Bucknam (Sophie, Piper, and Pearl) of Wheat Ridge. He will also be missed by dear friends, his four brothers and his sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews, and most everyone who was lucky enough to have met him.

In lieu of flowers, please freely share — with anyone you care about and encounter — any life lessons you learned from Ben; any donations may be made to Stand Up To Cancer or Children’s Hospital Colorado.

Ben selected several quotes to bring comfort after his death:

“Don’t give in to your chicken.”
–Ben Leichtling

“Use your health even to the point of wearing it out. That is what it is for. Spend all you have before you die; do not outlive yourself.”
–George Bernard Shaw

“The greatest use of life is to spend it on something that will outlast it.”
–William James

“I don’t want to be saved. I want to be spent.”
–Fritz Perls

“Like Schubert’s leider, our own lives are brief, but all the more beautiful because of this.”
–Lee Mingwei

Live full, die empty.
–Unknown

Bestow your life as if it is wealth. And your job is to create the greatest potlatch you can. What better can you do with it?
–Unknown

Late Fragment (by Raymond Carver)

And did you get what 

you wanted from this life, even so?
I did. 

And what did you want? 

To call myself beloved, 

to feel myself beloved on the earth.

Ashes (by Hokushi)

ashes, my burnt hut

but wonderful the cherry

blooming on my hill

Mornings at Blackwater (by Mary Oliver)

For years, every morning, I drank

From Blackwater Pond.

It was flavored with oak leaves and also, no doubt, 

the feet of ducks.

And always it assuaged me

from the dry bowl of the very far past.

What I want to say is

that the past is the past,

and the present is what your life is,

and you are capable,

of choosing what that will be,

darling citizen.

So come to the pond,

or the river of your imagination,

or the harbor of your longing,

and put your lips to the world.

And live

Your life.