Otto John Leopold Jr.

Otto was born on September 6, 1942, to Eleanor and Otto John Leopold, Sr. in Roselle Park, New Jersey, where he grew up with his brothers, Gary and Bobby, and many Martinoni and Bernet family members who knew him as “Butch.” After an eventful childhood that included bowling on a team affectionately named “Otto’s Tired Germans,” seeing if a found piece of a gun would actually fire in his bedroom (it did!), avoiding a school-mandated exercise run by hiding behind a tree, losing a fingertip to a door, hitching rides on passing trains, accidentally setting the woods on fire, and tripping over first base on his first and only homerun, Otto went on to study nuclear engineering at Newark College of Engineering.

After graduating, Otto moved to begin his successful 45-year career at the Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia, as a nuclear engineer. Coworkers appreciated that his “unique style and sense of humor always made the most difficult problems more bearable and easier to resolve.” There he won a legendary arm-wrestling contest with a kiss, vowed computers would never last in the workplace (or, if they did, he’d be gone), fought the L.A.W., and answered many phone calls with, “E-82, Leopold.”

To know the true Otto, though, you had to see him in his element—with his family. Otto met the love of his life, Irene Christofi, in Newport News, and they married on September 3, 1966. They built a beautiful life together and reveled in each and every moment of parenthood. Nothing made Otto happier than being around his family whether that was walking a baby from room to room for hours, clapping off-beat at Springsteen and Josh Ritter concerts, baking the family pastries for every Christmas morning (okay, that one made him cuss a lot), proudly watching his kids’ and grandkids’ extracurriculars and sports games, shell hunting on the beach after grabbing the paper from Wee Winks, rooting for the Miami Dolphins, Boston Celtics, and the New York Yankees, sipping coffee with the daily crossword, walking his beloved furry family members, filming just to the right of major life events on his camcorder, and giving the most sincere hugs.

Known for his endless generosity, kind spirit, encouraging advice, inability to remember full song lyrics, and clever humor, he will be missed by all who knew him. Otto was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his wife Irene; children, Otto John Leopold, III (Lesley), Michael Christofi Leopold (Tamara), and Lauren Elizabeth Osborn (Andrew); and his beautiful grandchildren, Otto John Leopold, IV, Grace Suzanne Leopold, Kelsey Caroline Leopold, Michael Christofi Leopold, Jr., Aiden Frederic Osborn, Madison Lorelei Osborn, and Eleanor Adeline Osborn.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. A Celebration of Life will be held in The Parish Hall at Grace Church Yorktown, 111 Church Street, Yorktown on Sunday, August 11, 2024 at 3:00pm. Please use this link to RSVP https://bit.ly/OttoJLeopoldJr.