I had the good fortune to take an undergraduate phonetics class from Dr. Leith at Colorado State University during my senior year in 1969.  He was a marvelous teacher and I was so glad I had chosen to take his class as one of my final electives.  If I had discovered him as a speech professor earlier in my college career at CSU,  I would have happily enrolled in more of his courses.   

Though I was saddened to come across his obituary,   I am pleased to hear that he continued to be a leader in his profession for many years after he left Colorado.   Reading about his career brought back some good memories and I'm sure there are many, many other former students around the country who have benefited from his expertise, enthusiasm, and caring.

This is a very late note, as I just found this on google..but I often think of Bill... I met Bill at a writers conference more than 20 years ago. We stayed in touch until after he had a stroke, and I assumed he was not well or worse. We laughed over over his cookbook, discussed his thrillers, and shared as friends do. He was a very accomplished man, adding music, singing, and of course his extensive work in speech therapy. A fascinating and good man. I will always remember Bill, especially when at work writing, as I am now. I was lucky to have you as a friend, Bill! Linda

I have thought of Dr. Leith a great deal over the last few months as we have fallen out of touch. I searched a bit online, only to find his obituary. I have a very heavy heart as I write this. I was Dr. Leith's graduate asst. at Wayne State in the early 90's. I had the privelege of sitting in on many of his private therapy sessions and to this day, consider myself pretty good at therapy for stutterers as a result of his example. He taught me so much and had a very generous spirit. I also had a special fondness for Wanda. She was so patient and tolerated Dr. Leith's little idiosyncracies with admirable grace. As my life moved along, I married and moved to Florida. Upon a visits back to Michigan, there were many restaurant visits and even one at his home. Dr. Leith played baseball with my toddler in his backyard while my newborn slept in a pack & play. The last time I saw him was when he and Wanda visited my home in Jacksonville in March 2004 shortly after I had had my 3rd daughter. Dr. Leith has left an impression on my heart, for sure. I regret falling out of touch and not knowing of his passing last January. He was a true treasure and I hope that I can honor his memory by helping stutterers for years to come. Rest in peace, my old friend. You are missed. Linnea Jackson

To my dearest, wonderful Uncle Bill, I will miss hearing your stories; and talking together about family and work and life; and laughing at your jokes; and I will miss hearing you play the piano; and I will miss you. Love, Thaila

I had Dr Leith as a prof in the late 70s at WSU, Speech Dept. I really enjoyed his lectures, and learned a lot from him/them! Prayers for you, sir, and your family...peace! tom gainer, wsu, class of '79

OBITUARY

William Raymond Leith

March 21, 1927 – January 16, 2010

A.H. Peters Funeral Home

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