Leona Marguerite Butler passed away after a sudden illness on July 22, 2026 at Kaiser Oakland Medical Center, at the age of 90.
She was born in San Francisco on October 1, 1935 to Marguerite Prowse and Leon Harper. She studied drama and moved to New York for a short time, where she performed in several off-Broadway shows. It was there that she met her husband Eugene Butler. They moved back to the Bay Area, where their daughter Melodie was born in 1958.
[1]Leona had a long and successful career shaping health policy in California, particularly in improving access to health care for people with low income. For three years she served as the lead staffer on Medi-Cal for the state legislature, where she drafted major health reforms. She later became the vice president of provider affairs at Blue Cross of California.
In 1994 she was the founding CEO of the Health Plan of San Joaquin, starting out in a small office in an unused part of the Stockton airport. Within just a few years, she built it into a successful organization providing health coverage to tens of thousands of people. In 1997 she was appointed CEO of the Santa Clara Family Health Plan, and under her leadership it became the primary public health insurer in Santa Clara County. One of her top achievements was the creation of the Healthy Kids program, which offered health insurance to all low-income children regardless of immigration status.
After retiring in 2008, Leona moved to Fredericksburg, Virginia with her daughter and son-in-law. In 2024, she returned to California, living briefly in San Rafael before settling in Alameda in 2025. Always sharp and active even in her later years, she helped organize a book club and a drum circle at her assisted living home. During her time in Alameda, she was also an active parishioner at St. Joseph Basilica.
Leona was a devoted and loving mother, grandmother, and mother-in-law. She loved to travel with her family and friends, and had visited many countries around the world, including China, Japan, Russia, and Korea, as well as her ancestral Ireland. Leona particularly loved cruising, and had taken her family on many wonderful cruises over the years.
Leona was preceded in death by her daughter Melodie Gellman. She is survived by her grandsons Jason and Adam Cozzette and her son-in-law David Gellman. Leona was buried at Fernwood Cemetery in Mill Valley on August 7.