Leonard Campbell

Leonard Allen Campbell was born August 20, 1917 in the town of Nekoma, Rush County, Kansas. The third of nine children born to Eldon and Katherine (Erdsiek) Campbell, Leonard enjoyed his childhood there and attended school through the 8th grade. He recalled many pleasant memories of summers spent fishing and skinny-dipping in Walnut Creek.

Leonard’s strong work ethic was learned while working in his father’s grocery store building egg cases and later working on the family farms in western Kansas. As Leonard recalled, “Dad was able to raise a fairly good crop even though he was farming with horses. We milked 20 cows by hand twice a day and Mother had a big garden, so there was plenty to keep us busy and out of trouble. As I look back now, I wonder how it could have been so enjoyable without electricity, no radio, no telephone and no TV. We burned corn cobs and cow chips for heat. Nearly every pleasant Saturday was spent roaming the prairie with horses and wagon looking for dry chips.”

The family moved to Hodgeman County in 1934 and Leonard graduated from Jetmore High School in 1935. He eventually moved to Dodge City, Kansas, and enrolled in the Dodge City Business College. After graduation he found a job as a clerk-typist at McKinley-Winter Livestock Commission Company in Dodge City for $25.00 a week. With that fabulous salary, he was able to buy his first car, a 1932 Plymouth. In 1941 he received a promotion to office manager of McKinley-Winter’s LaJunta, Colorado office and was furnished with a company car to commute back to Dodge City on weekends. He was on the road to LaJunta on December 7, 1941 when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Knowing that he would soon be drafted, he drove on to Pueblo, Colorado and tried to enlist in the Navy. They turned him down because he had a few acne spots on his face. Early in 1942, he was drafted into the Army Air Force.

Leonard was assigned to the Headquarters Squadron of the 8th Air Force and was stationed in High Wycomb, Buckinghamshire, England. Headquarters was set up on the grounds and in the buildings of Wycomb Abbey, a fashionable girl's school. Headquarters for the Royal Air Force was only a few miles away. During the first year he was there, a new underground structure was built for the 8th Air Force, and for the next two years, he spent many long hours there as a stenographer-typist in the Intelligence Section.

Prior to the war, Leonard dated Katherine Preston but had never been very serious about marriage. After returning home on leave in May of 1945, they decided it was time to get serious, so on June 11, 1945 (his parents’ 32nd wedding anniversary) they were married in the parsonage of the First Christian Church in Dodge City. Since he had not yet been discharged, he returned to Greensboro, North Carolina for reassignment while Katherine stayed in Dodge City and worked at the beauty shop. Being newlyweds, Katherine quickly joined Leonard in Greensboro and then moved with him to Washington D.C. when he received his reassignment at the Pentagon. Leonard was discharged after 3 years, 7 months and 10 days of military service.

Upon returning to Dodge City, Katherine went back to her beauty shop job and Leonard found a temporary job as a bookkeeper at the Dodge City Journal. Following his dreams of a college education, the couple then moved to Lawrence, Kansas and Leonard enrolled at the University of Kansas, majoring in accounting with the goal of becoming a CPA. After two years of study at KU, ready to take the CPA exams, and with a desire to live in Colorado, Katherine and Leonard moved to Denver. Leonard was greeted with disappointment after he passed the exams, finding that he would still have to apprentice for another two years at minimal salary. Not being able to raise a family on the salary offered, he went to work as a bookkeeper for the Colorado Motor Carriers Association. At the same time, he enrolled at the University of Denver and went to night school to finish his bachelor's degree. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration in 1953 and then began employment with Texaco. Leonard worked for Texaco for 27 years as a credit supervisor and retired on March 1, 1978.

After retirement Leonard and Katherine moved to a mobile home in Littleton, CO and also purchased a smaller unit in Mesa, AZ. For the next ten years they would spend the winters in Arizona and the remainder of the year in Colorado. During these years, they would meet many new friends and travel to many interesting places around the world. Leonard continued to take trips after Katherine’s passing in 2001. Leonard also enjoyed hobbies such as playing golf, reading, “surfing the ‘net” on his computer, rose gardening and making stained glass, and many people have been blessed over the years by the beauty of Leonard’s work.

Leonard went to be with the Lord on October 31, 2011 after experiencing a serious fall while leaving for a trip to Ireland. Leonard is survived by three sisters, three children, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Leonard's name to New Hope Presbyterian Church, 3737 New Hope Way, Castle Rock, CO 80109, Phone: (303) 660-0057, www.newhopepres.org