Leonard Costa Jr.

Leonard Costa, Jr of Atlanta, GA passed away Sunday at the age of 92.  Born September 1, 1921, he is preceded in death by his parents Joseph and Elenora Costa, brothers; Joseph, Lawrence and sister, Grace Costa Robbins. He is survived by his wife of 71 years, Carolyn Harris Costa; one son, Leonard “Lee” Costa, III, his wife Jane of Raleigh, NC; two grandchildren – Katherine Costa Goldfaden, husband Andrew of Raleigh, NC, and Emily Costa of Bamberg, Germany and two great grandchildren, Benjamin and Luke Goldfaden. Visitation will be held at H.M. Patterson and son Oglethorpe Hill on Thursday, at 1pm followed by the service at 2pm. The Rev. Marthane Sanders of Oglethorpe Presbyterian will lead the service. An Athens native, Leo started playing football at the Athens YMCA. He went to Athens High School and went on to play football at the Baylor School in Chattanooga and then received a scholarship to play football at University of Georgia where he played as a placekicker from 1940-42. He played on the winning 1940 Orange Bowl and the 1943 Rose Bowl game. Costa scored in every Georgia game for four straight years. Graduating from of the University of Georgia in 1943, he was a member of the Chi Phi fraternity chapter. In 2000, Costa was honored to be a member of the inaugural class of the Athens Athletic Hall of Fame. He worked for The Associates Financial Services as the Southern Division Auditor. A special thank you to Joe and Lucy Bruckner and Mike Anthony for their devotion. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made “In Memory of Leo Costa” to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, 401 Harrison Oaks Blvd. Suite 200 Cary, NC 27513 or to the Athletic General Endowment Fund at the University of Georgia, PO Box 1472, Athens, GA 30602.