Leslie Kurilla

Lesllie Kurilla passed away on Monday, March 10, 2025 after being a patient for six weeks, at the UAB St Vincent’s Hospitals in Birmingham, Alabama. Leslie was born in 1946 in Syracuse, New York to Norman and Elizabeth “Betty” Herb Colman. Leslie attended schools in Syracuse, Graduating in June 1964 from West Genesee High School in Camillus, New York. In September 1965, she Enrolled at the Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, New York where Leslie was a Freshman Member of the Student Senate and Editor-in-Chief of the Chieftain Year Book. A year later in September 1966, Leslie Enlisted in the US Navy undergoing Recruit Training in Bainbridge, Maryland, before attending US Navy Hospital Corpsman Training School in Great Lakes, Illinois. In 1970, she attended Physician Assistant Training at Duke University then Worked as a Physician's Assistant at the Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina. During that time she was very active in promoting Handicapped Accessibility and Barrier Free Design for people with Disabilities. Leslie Married Joe Gale in June 1970. In June 1982 Leslie married Dan Kurilla in Norfolk, Virginia and traveled the World, while the two Served in the US Navy and Naval Reserve. Leslie Retired from the US Naval Reserve as a CWO4 (Chief Warrant Officer), Physician Assistant in 1991, after being called to Active Duty during Desert Storm. The couple retired to Birmingham, Alabama in 1992, where they raised 3 children, numerous dogs and cats and watched Auburn AND Alabama on Saturdays each Fall. Leslie is survived by 7 brothers and sisters, husband, Dan, sons Jeff, Tommy and Hassi and 2 grandchildren, Julia and Dallas. Leslie was predeceased by her parents, husband, Joe Gale in 2011 and daughter, Amy in 2015.