Leslie Kathleen Thiele

Leslie Kathleen Thiele, 70, of Schenectady died April 23, 2023, of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. Leslie was born August 11, 1952, in Wenatchee, Washington, the daughter of James W. Thiele and Mary M. Thiele. Her family moved to Everett, Washington, where Leslie lived until she went to college at the University of Redlands in California. After college, Leslie spent a gap year in Germany before beginning law school at Duke University in

Durham, North Carolina. Upon completing her second year of law school, Leslie received a  Fulbright Fellowship for legal studies at Christian-Albrechts-Universität in Kiel, Germany. She spent two years in Germany, then returned to Duke Law School, graduating with JD and LLM degrees in 1980.

Leslie joined the Philadelphia law firm Saul Ewing Remick & Saul in 1980. After four years there, she left Saul Ewing to work for a small law firm created by two partners with whom she had worked at the larger firm. That firm had a very short life and Leslie then joined a consulting firm, at which she advised foreign companies wishing to do business in the US. 

In 1986, Leslie married Ken Larsen, whom she had met in North Carolina in 1979 and persuaded to move to Philadelphia in 1982. In 1989, Leslie and Ken moved to Schenectady, where Leslie returned to the practice of law, hanging out her shingle at their home. Leslie, as a solo practitioner, had difficulty attracting the international corporate work she was accustomed to, and pivoted to the practice of immigration law. She quickly developed a bustling practice, including all of the immigration needs of GE Research and other companies. In 1996, she was asked to join the Albany law firm Whiteman Osterman & Hanna, where she founded their immigration and international business practice group. Leslie was proud of building and leading this practice, but prouder of the clients that she enabled to immigrate to the US to accomplish their life’s dreams. She enjoyed going to the citizenship ceremonies of the clients for whom she had acquired their first visas.

In 1993, Leslie and Ken adopted a son Jamie from Paraguay, and in 1997 a daughter Gabby  from Guatemala. She loved them fiercely and unconditionally. In her early fifties, Leslie took up ice hockey, and was a founding member of the Frozen Assets women’s hockey team. One of her greatest joys was playing on the team after her daughter Gabby joined it.

In Schenectady, Leslie and Ken first lived in the Stockade and later in the GE Realty Plot.  Leslie cherished their gracious old house in the Plot, where Leslie enjoyed hosting Christmas Eve carol sings and their annual “waifs and strays” Thanksgiving dinners. Leslie also enjoyed welcoming international visitors. During their time living in the Plot, Leslie and Ken hosted visitors from China, Hong Kong, Kazakhastan, Armenia, Georgia, and Zimbabwe for stays from three days to three months.

Leslie was deeply involved in her community. She was a member of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Scotia, and chaired a committee which planned and oversaw a major addition to the church. She was, at various times, on the boards of the International Center of the Capital Region, the Empire State Youth Orchestra, the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Schenectady County, and the Silver Bay YMCA on Lake George. She also was president of the Fulbright Alumni Association.

Leslie was predeceased by her parents and by her brother Mark. She is survived by her husband Ken, her son Jamie Thiele of West Palm Beach, Florida, her daughter Gabby Thiele and daughter-in-law Courtney Thiele of Scotia, and her grandson Riley Clum of Troy.

There will be a memorial service for Leslie at a later date. Memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association Northeastern New York chapter or the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York.

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