Anne was born to William James Leathem and Jane Leathem (Riley) in Winnipeg, Manitoba on December 18, 1905. She was the eldest of a family of ten; six sisters and three brothers. As a young girl, she moved with her family to the Silver Park area of Saskatchewan, where her father was a grain buyer. She attended school in Silver Park and Melfort. She left home to become a seamstress in Regina. It was there she met and married Frank Leslie, on December 24, 1924. They farmed at Gray, Saskatchewan, bought grain at Rowatt, Saskatchewan, and managed a dairy farm near Regina. In 1934, they returned to Frank's first home, to farm in the Minitonas area. Here they raised their family of five.

Anne was a diligent farm homemaker! Inside and out, she did her share to survive the depression and keep her family well-clothed and fed. Neighbors were always welcome around her kitchen table to share her homemade bread, buns, and cookies. Anne loved to knit - always the essentials; sweaters, socks and mitts.

She was a member of the Knox United Church in Minitonas, the Minitonas Women's Institute, and the Rebekah Lodge.

Frank and Anne left the farm in 1963 to live in Swan River. Here, Anne filled her large house on 9th Avenue with those who were in need of "room and board." In 1979, they moved to a smaller home in Minitonas. Then in 1993, Anne moved to the Chalet in Minitonas where she lived until 1997 when she entered the Swan Valley Lodge.