Editing Leon M. Lederman (section)

==Personal life==
[[File:Leon M. Lederman.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Lederman in May 2007]]

Lederman's best friend during his college years, [[Martin J. Klein]], convinced him of "the splendors of physics during a long evening over many beers".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/nyregion/02klein.html|title=Martin J. Klein, Historian of Physics, Dies at 84|last=Hevesi|first=Dennis|date=1 April 2009|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=2 October 2016}}</ref> He was known for his sense of humor in the physics community.<ref name="autogenerated5" />{{Rp|17}} On August 26, 2008, Lederman was video-recorded by a science focused organization called ScienCentral, on the street in New York City, answering questions from passersby.<ref name=street>{{Cite web|url=http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2008/08/26/street-corner-science-with-leon-lederman|title=Street Corner Science with Leon Lederman|last=Carroll|first=Sean|date=26 August 2008|website=[[Discover (magazine)|Discover]]|access-date=17 April 2009|archive-date=15 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415101446/http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2008/08/26/street-corner-science-with-leon-lederman/|url-status=dead}}</ref> He answered questions such as "What is the strong force?" and "What happened before the Big Bang?".<ref name=street/>

He had three children with his first wife, Florence Gordon, and toward the end of his life lived with his second wife, Ellen (Carr), in [[Driggs, Idaho|Driggs]], [[Idaho]].<ref name="Nobelprize" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://411.info/people/Leon-Lederman-Driggs-ID-132837548|title=Leon Lederman in Driggs, ID|date=2 October 2016|website=411|access-date=2 October 2012}}</ref>

Lederman was an [[atheist]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Universe on a T-Shirt: The Quest for the Theory of Everything|date=2005|publisher=Arcade Publishing|isbn=9781559707336|page=195|author=Dan Falk|chapter=What About God?|quote="Physics isn't a religion. If it were, we'd have a much easier time raising money." - Leon Lederman}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://rationalisthumans.blogspot.com/2012/07/its-atheist-particle-actually.html|title=It's the Atheist Particle, actually|last=Gogineni|first=Babu|date=July 10, 2012|website=Rationalist Humans|publisher=Postnoon News|access-date=2 October 2016|quote=Leon Lederman is himself an atheist and he regrets the term, and Peter Higgs who is an atheist too, has expressed his displeasure, but the damage has been done!}}</ref> Lederman began to suffer from memory loss in 2011 and, after struggling with [[healthcare in the United States|medical bills]], he had to sell his Nobel Prize medal for $765,000 to cover the costs in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/health-care/2018/10/4/17936626/leon-lederman-nobel-prize-medical-bills|title=A Nobel Prize-winning physicist sold his medal for $765,000 to pay medical bills|last=Kliff|first=Sarah|date=2018-10-04|website=Vox|access-date=2019-04-18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Only in America: Nobel laureate sells his medal to pay medical bills |url=https://pnhp.org/news/only-in-america-nobel-laureate-sells-his-medal-to-pay-medical-bills/#:~:text=Leon%20Lederman%20won%20a%20Nobel,in%20an%20Idaho%20nursing%20home. |access-date=2024-12-02 |website=PNHP |language=en-US}}</ref> He died of complications from dementia on October 3, 2018, at a care facility in [[Rexburg, Idaho]], at the age of 96.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imsa.edu/imsa-announces-passing-of-founder-dr-leon-lederman/|title=IMSA Announces Passing of Founder, Dr. Leon Lederman|website=Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy|access-date=3 October 2018|date=2018-10-03}}</ref><ref name="nyto">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/03/science/leon-lederman-died-particle-accelerators.html|title=Leon Lederman, 96, Explorer (and Explainer) of the Subatomic World, Dies|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2018-10-03|last1=Johnson|first1=George}}</ref>