David Allan Leonard

Dave moved to Palo Alto, California in 1960 and fulfilled his dream of establishing a life in California. He first visited San Francisco when he was at William Chrisman High School in Independence, MO. Dave attended Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa for his BA, and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he earned his MS in Theatre Arts. Dave worked as Assistant Director at The Palo Alto Community Theatre for five years before parlaying his natural ability to write into establishing a career in Public Relations. He started his own firm, called Concept: Communications, and worked out of an office in downtown Palo Alto through the early 1990s. Dave helped ROLM Corporation develop a logo and get started up. He continued to do PR for high tech companies and had many successful projects with Dow Chemical Company. Dave continued to pursue his love of theater by reviewing plays from the 1960s to 80s for the Palo Alto Times. He also directed a few plays for community theatres during that time. Dave was excited to have one of his quotes published by Herb Caen: "Most sentences that begin 'It's interesting to note,' are not very interesting to note." One of Dave's biggest interests was fly fishing, which he pursued with friends in California. He also joined his brother Stanley for fishing trips throughout the years. Dave tied his own flies and loved to tell stories about his fishing adventures. In fact, he loved to tell stories whenever he had an avid listener. Dave loved folk music and jazz standards. After a year-and-half of remission from lung cancer, Dave went peacefully at the care home he had lived at for four months. He was 83. Dave is survived by his loving partner of 42 years, Sue Pratt. He is also survived by his brother and wife, Stanley and Margaret Leonard; his three children, Steve, Glenn and Lani; his granddaughter and her husband, Tina Endres and Ian McKillop; and his two great-grandchildren, John and Jacob Endres. A private family memorial was held on Monday. If you wish to make a donation in Dave's memory, please make a contribution to Graceland University, 1 University Pl, Lamoni, IA 50140.