Basil W. Leggin (Bill) was born June 11, 1920, in Sutersville, PA, and passed away November 21, 2020. He married Barbara R. Grams, August 9, 1952. They made their home in Minnesota until 1974, and then moved their family of 10 children to Arizona.
Basil attended Carnegie Mellon Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh and worked on the Manhattan Project related to the Westinghouse Electric efforts of WWII. While employed as a mechanical engineer in Minnesota, Basil worked in metal and plastics on designs, and earned patents for Jonway Tool & Die, Miller Felpax, 3M, and Master Lock. He was a Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus, he loved to bowl, visit the casinos, make his famous chili, and was a great dancer. One of his goals in life was to make it to his 100th Birthday, and it happened. He made it. He celebrated his day with a parade of over 30 vehicles and 60 family members and friends meeting in the Sun City West Rec Center Parking Lot. Under Skydancer balloons, cars and trucks were decorated in red, white, and blue by the attendees in attire to match, and then ventured through the streets of his neighborhood in Sun City West. Joining in the celebration was the Sun City West Fire Department, blowing horns and shouting as the line of cars drove by. The procession ended with a dinner and dance at Lou’s Tivoli Gardens, a local restaurant, with live entertainment by Jared Howe. The Fire Department, Big AZ Promotions, the restaurant’s wait staff and bartenders, and the music took the party over the top for him. It was epic.
When the media asked Basil what his secret to longevity was, he listed the following: “looking healthy and neatly dressed; being a fussy eater and never overeating; and doing things my way.”
Basil is survived by seven of his 10 children, William Leggin (Mary), Melanie Kochmann (Chris), Maureen Barton (Fred), Mary Jane McKenzie (Johnnie), Barbara Sirimongkhon (Paul), Thomas Leggin, and Patricia Leggin (Eric Hamm); 13 grandchildren, Pierce, Riley, Shea, and Holly Leggin; Kathryn, Keipher (Abby), and Michael McKenzie; Dillon and Luke Sirimongkhon; Jonathan, Nicholas, Kyle, and Allyson Hamm; and two great-grandchildren, Keira Hamm and Hayden McKenzie.
We hope any friends who wish to make a donation in his memory consider a contribution to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or Hospice Care.
