CHESTERTOWN, MD - Dorothy Leap died on Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012, at the Memorial Hospital at Easton in Easton, Md. Mrs. Leap was born on June 5, 1927 in Baltimore, Md. to the late Brestle A. and Elizabeth Benson Rupert. She attended Hagerstown High School; graduating class of 1945. She continued her education at Western Maryland College; receiving a Bachelor's Degree in 1949. She later completed her Masters from University of Maryland. On Dec. 27, 1949, she married Ernest H. Leap, Jr. and they resided in Cambridge. In 1967, she and her family moved to Chestertown, where she began working for the Kent County School System. She assisted in developing the kindergarten level, and later become a kindergarten teacher. In 1991, she retired. In 2006, her husband of 56 years predeceased her. Mrs. Leap was a member of the Kent County Retired Teachers Association and had a passion for music. She directed church choirs in Cambridge and at the First United Methodist Church in Chestertown. She was preceded in death by one son, Michael D. Leap; and one sister, Mary Kaufman. Mrs. Leap is survived by two daughters, Carol L. Startt and husband David and Patricia L. Burton and husband Fred; one daughter-in-law, Pat Leap; four grandchildren, Melanie Moyer, Jenna Startt, Adam Burton, and Aaron Burton; and five great grandchildren, Steve, James, Beth, Abigail and Cade. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2012 at noon at Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home, P.A. 130 Speer Road Chestertown, MD where relatives and friends may call one hour prior (11 to 12.) Interment will be held privately in St. Paul's Cemetery in Chestertown. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in her memory to the First United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 227 Chestertown, MD 21620 or the American Diabetes Association, 3120 Tianus Lane, Suite 106 Baltimore, MD 21244. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.fhnfuneralhome.com.