Benedict A. Leerburger

Dick died March 6, eagerly awaiting the next day. His was the quintessential glass half-filled life. He was 94.

He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Julie; his daughters Marian and Ellen Leerburger, his son-in-law Ed Durkee; his grandchildren Alec Leerburger-Mahl, Katie Leerburger, Lanie Durkee, Porter Durkee, and his devoted collie, Augie. He is predeceased by Mickey, Christopher, Timmy, Randy, and Ollie.

Beginning after his stint as a Naval Pilot during the Korean War, Dick worked as an accomplished writer and editor in the fields of science and technology. He moved to editorships of various encyclopedias and other editing jobs for McGraw-Hill, Look Magazine, and The New York Times.

After he became a freelance writer, he authored a variety of books, including “Marketing the Library,” used as a standard text for years in graduate programs in library science.

He was dedicated to his profession, but his primary focus was always his family and community. He was devoted to his wife, Julie, and his daughters, Marian and Ellen, and later to his four grandchildren, all of whom he was immensely proud and supportive. Before it was the style, he was a hands -on father, helping with household work, eager to take his daughters along for weekend chores, and just as eager to play practical jokes with a sense of good hearted mischief. His antics with Sammy the Talking Suitcase, outlandish scripts for “General Hospital,” imitations of giraffes and seabirds, and “Happy Trails” are legendary. Scores of now grown up children remember him as the ideal father, involved, funny, kind and non-judgmental.

He was a 1950 graduate of Scarsdale High School and a 1954 graduate of Colby College where he majored in geology and was the drummer in his own Dixieland jazz band. Later, when he and Julie returned to Scarsdale to raise their family, he was the drummer in a local Dixieland group called “Three Shrinks and a Fink.” Dick was the Fink.

He was involved in the community with many committees including president of the Friends of the Scarsdale Library for several years and then president of the Westchester Library System for even longer. After retirement as a freelance writer, he was for years president of Purchase College Friends, a group that raised funds for Conservatory students who had financial needs, such as a cello repair or a dance costume.

Dick and Julie built a vacation house in Chester, Massachusetts in 1975 that soon became a summer retreat. Ensconced on the screened porch, Dick wrote articles and books on a used computer for part of every day in the summer. He was a wonderful host, and regular guests in the summer recall early morning chats on the porch as well as a disarming tendency to inquire about the next day’s breakfast preferences while guests were still eating dinner. In later years, joined often by friends, the weekend routine consisted of Jacob’s Pillow Dance in Becket every Friday matinee, a Tanglewood rehearsal in Lenox Saturday morning, and a Sevenars concert in Worthington Sunday afternoon.

An enthusiastic traveler, he and Julie visited 36 countries. As a solo traveler and the recipient of a National Science Foundation grant in 1968, Dick travelled to Antarctica, the subject of many photographs and articles. There he also met Sir Edmund Hillary, a highlight of his career. Scores of Heathcote School elementary students remember the annual Antarctica/ penguin slide presentation.

Dick was a voracious reader, highly intelligent, dryly witty, possessed of a huge general knowledge, and liked by just about everyone. He loved music, dance, opera, theater and the visual arts. He was glued to the television set during the major games of football, baseball, and basketball seasons. He loved good food, took classes in Chinese cooking, and mastered the art of wok preparation.

He always had room for dessert.

Please consider a contribution in Dick’s name to Sevenars Concerts, Inc.. at w.w.w.

Sevenars.org