He is proceeded in death by his parents, Henry Leonard, Sr. and Judy Mueller, his wife, Dorothy Leonard, his sister, Dotty Leonard and his son and daughter-in-law, Chris and Sharon Leonard.
He is survived by his brother Garland Leonard, his son Randy Leonard, his daughter-in-law, Kathleen Leonard, grandchildren, Lori and Ronnie Petterson, Dustin Leonard, Janette Kausen, April and Ray Trujillo, Amber Mills, Tiffany Sargent and Nicholas Leonard, 24 great grandchildren and 3 great-great grandchildren.
When he was about 6 years old, along with his mother and his older sister, they hitch-hicked from Oklahoma to California. He excelled in school and even skipped some grades ahead. He graduated from Porterville High School, where he met his future wife Dorothy.
He enlisted in the United States Army in June, 1945. He served as a Private and then a Private First Class, Prison Guard, at a prisoner of war camp, in Fort Douglas, Utah. He received a Victory Medal. He was honorably discharged in November, 1946.
His career was in management for sand and gravel mining companies. He spent 37 years as the manager of Kaweah River Rock Company in Woodlake, California. When the rock crushers were pounding hard, smoke blowing, and dust flying, Dad used to say, “That’s like printing money!” His ingenuity, problem solving and his ability to “look down the road” at projects, were way ahead of his time. Sometimes Randy would ask him about his planning strategies. Randy would ask him how he knew where we would be on a project, way in to the future? Dad said, “You just know.” Years later, when Randy became management, the crew asked Randy the same question. Randy said, “You just know.” He thought of all of his employees and his customers as family.
Mom and dad had several acres of asparagus, on their Porterville property, that they tended to it and harvested. The proceeds from the asparagus paid for the Porterville farm. Even in dad’s last years, he was still growing asparagus in his Visalia back yard, and sharing it with the neighbors.
He was a self-taught pilot of three 52 horsepower airplanes. One was an Ultralight and the other two were Challengers. There were great times and only a few mishaps. Dad always said, “Any landing that you walk away from, is a good landing.”
On the weekends, he enjoyed riding his Yamaha V-Star motorcycle over to the casino in Lemoore to enjoy a hot dog. He enjoyed motorcycle riding until he was 89 years old.
He enjoyed working on his 1923 Ford Model T. He could be seen driving it around town, with his dog laying on the top of the seat, looking out the rear window.
Black Bear Diner was his very favorite place to eat breakfast. His favorite items were a cup of coffee and the spicey sausage. One of his last outings was going to eat at Black Bear Diner. All of the staff came over and told him how glad they were to see him again. The manager, Robert, was very excited to see him again and even gave dad a Black Bear cap. Dad was so proud of that hat.
There will be a viewing Tuesday, May 14, 2024, from 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm, at Miller Memorial Chapel, Visalia. A graveside service will be held Wednesday, May 15, 2024 at 10:00 am, at Visalia Public Cemetery.
Tributes and condolences may be made at www.millerchapel.com.
Arrangements entrusted to Miller Memorial Chapel, 1120 W. Goshen Avenue, Visalia, CA 93291
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