Earl R. Mc Leod

(June 22, 1920 – July 11, 2013)

Earl Robert McLeod passed away peacefully at the Redlands Health Care Centre in Redlands, California, July 11, 2013. He was 93 years old.

Father, Grandfather, Great Grandfather, Uncle Earl and Friend will be lovingly remembered for his trusting, kind and generous nature. Earl’s love of God and nature often brought him close to tears in awe and wonder of our beautiful Earth and all creatures upon it. His faith and love of God was the foundation upon which he built his life.

He is deeply mourned and will be lovingly remembered by his children, son Douglas and wife Kathleen of Lafayette, Louisiana; daughter Terri McLeod and husband Stephen Safton of Nakusp, British Columbia; son Robert McLeod and former daughter-in-law Kim Tillman of Apple Valley, California; grandchildren Kristin Thompson, Kelli and Travis Close, Kayla McLeod, Elizabeth McLeod and Matthew McLeod; great grandchildren Bruce Thompson III, and Kylee Ann Close; close family friends Pam Martin (Fogliasso), Elizabeth Robinson and Tip and Mary Laymon.

Earl was born June 22, 1920, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the only child of Alfred M. Christensen and Emma Jane Mothershead. When Earl was a baby, his mother married Lloyd Maxwell McLeod. In 1927 the family moved to Los Angeles, California. Earl attended George Washington High School where he developed interests in hot rods and woodworking, passions that served him well throughout his life.

Earl entered active duty in the US Army a month before the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. As an aviation cadet, he soloed a Boeing Stearman PT-17 at the US Army Air Field in Marana, Arizona. Serving in several capacities in the US Army Air Corps, Earl was honorably discharged in November, 1945, with the rank of Sergeant and with decorations and citations for the American Theater and Asiatic-Pacific Theater with one Bronze Battle Star and WW2 Victory Medal.

He married Joan Ethyl Anderson (nee McDonald) in Los Angeles April 25, 1954, creating an instant family with her son Douglas. The family relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada, where Earl and Joan raised their family which now included Terri and Robert, in addition to Douglas. Earl worked as a general contractor and was part owner of a wholesale sheet metal supply company in addition to being a partner in a sheet metal fabrication shop. He was known for his ability to build anything and do it with precision. One of his neighbors was fond of saying of Earl “If you brought him a board marked with a line to cut he would ask ‘Which side of the line do you want cut?’!