Leighton Q. J. Klevana

KLEVANA, Leighton Quentin Joseph died on January 24, 2023. He is survived by his son, Leighton A. C. Klevana (Chandler); grandchildren, Chandler Elizabeth Klevana and Leighton William Klevana, brothers Clifford Lamberg Karlovsky (Martha), Max Farbman (Susan) and sisters Llyena Boyland Spieth (Donald) and Claudia Drtina (Richard) as well as a number of nieces and nephews. He was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia and moved to Connecticut. In his teenage years, he excelled in hockey. After graduating from Cornell University where he majored in Linguistics and minored in Government, he attended the Sorbonne in Paris, France before pursuing a law degree at the University of Virginia. His 50-year career was both extensive and diverse in law, education, real estate and business development in the US, Europe, and Africa. He first worked in New York City for several prominent Wall Street law firms before becoming Vermont's Assistant Attorney General. He taught at Vermont Law School, started his own private practice, and launched the Institute of Practicing Real Estate where he developed an organization of instructors across six states offering pre/post-licensing and continuing education in real estate. He was also a commercial realtor before moving to Prague in the Czech Republic and then to Bratislava, Slovakia where he established the Slovak American Enterprise Fund which promoted the development of a free market economy in Slovakia and Eastern Europe. He worked for Deloitte & Touche as well as the American Chamber of Commerce in Slovakia. He returned to the US where he taught law at Saint Leo University before moving to Kigali, Rwanda in the post-genocide era to work for the Rwanda Investment Promotion Authority promoting new investments in the region. He returned to the US living most recently in Largo, Florida. He was a true renaissance man who spoke six languages, traveled extensively around the world, and enjoyed skiing, hockey, crew, swimming, and the beach. He thoroughly enjoyed life and never met a stranger. He had a strong and tireless work ethic, was an entrepreneur at heart and proud of his business accomplishments and his family heritage. He especially enjoyed a recent opportunity to travel back to Prague with his son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren to trace his roots.