Olivia Lehman: A Celebration

Date: Sunday, March 3, 2019

Location: Narberth Borough Hall, 100 Conway Ave, Narberth, PA, 19072, second floor (enter from Haverford Ave.)

Parking: Behind Narberth Borough Hall (entrance on Haverford Ave) as well as on Haverford Ave and Conway Ave

Doors open at 1 PM with refreshments. The memorial starts at 2 PM. Wear whatever makes you feel comfortable (color/casual is welcome!)

Bring anything (pictures, art, stories, etc.) you want to share. There will be time for people who want to share short anecdotes.

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Olivia Lehman (1959-2019)

Olivia (Livy) Esther Lehman, 60, died Friday, February 15, 2019 of a sudden cardiac event.

Liv was all heart. An accomplished writer, her proudest journalistic achievements were a five-part series in the Main Line Times about the history of racial relations in Ardmore, PA for which she won a Pennsylvania Keystone Award in 2004, and a letter printed in The New York Times about the poignant ending of The Sopranos: “Where else could the story have closed more compassionately than at a small Formica table? Even more chilling than the series’ gruesome violence was the vast, sparkling loneliness of the Sopranos’ huge dining table and kitchen, one of the saddest backdrops I’ve ever seen on stage or screen.”

Livy was a precocious and verbally dexterous child with immense energy. As a young girl, she demonstrated considerable academic ability, especially in English and history. She was also very active and passionate in anti-war politics, marching with her mother to protest the Vietnam War in Washington DC in the1970s. At school, she was a much-loved member of a group of intellectual teenagers who were humorous, combative and ambitious. A number remained friends in later years.

An extraordinary actor, Livy made her mark playing ‘Tom Paine’s shadow’ at Lighthouse Arts and Music Camp in the mid-1970s. She was recognized as a serious acting talent and was accepted to the Governor’s School, a prestigious arts camp, several years later. While an undergrad at Barnard she played the part of Princess Marina in Shakespeare’s Pericles.

Liv had the soul of an artist, and adored literature, theater, dance, music, poetry, charcoal, watercolor, pottery, embroidery, and crafts. She was an accomplished gardener and cook; anywhere she lived immediately became a welcoming home because she (over) filled it with music, warmth, ephemera, and a totally open heart.

Livy attended Barnard College of Columbia University and Temple University, where she majored in English. Passionate about peace and progressive politics, Liv approached the world with child-like innocence, sharp discernment, and wit.  She developed and tended community gardens while working for the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society; worked for the medical journal Current Science; taught music to nursery schoolers; founded and directed an intergenerational community puppet company called “The Puppet Box”; and volunteered as an ESL instructor for refugees and other immigrants in West Philadelphia.

Livy’s many lifelong friends treasured her compassion, her gentle spirit, and her wry sense of humor. She also leaves many carers and newer friends who loved her deeply and supported her when she needed them, including Bernie, Erica, Peter, and Sudha, whose years of loyalty are much appreciated by the family. She was predeceased by her father Lee and her beloved stepfather John Alexander. She also leaves her mother Irma, her siblings Laura and Claude, her siblings-in-law Nick Kochan and Sona Iyengar, and her and nieces and nephews Lila and Ravi Lehman, Julius and Rosa Kochan, Troy and Tyler Shuman, and Natalie and Sophia Olivieri. She was married to her husband and friend Fran Olivieri for 23 years. Being a mother to her daughter Julia Olivieri and her son Daniel Olivieri was Livy’s most important, enduring, and radiant joy. She gave them a magical childhood, and in later years, she loved bragging audaciously about their accomplishments. Their devotion, acceptance, and love kept her alive through an anguished seven-year struggle with depression and other challenges at the end of her life. Those considering memorial donations might consider the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) or the Narberth Library.