Educator, Dedicated Public Servant, & Manufacturing Executive
Cecil E. Leonard, age 84, passed away on the evening of Monday, December 18, 2023, with family at his side in Tiverton, RI. He confronted Parkinson's disease with fortitude for eight years before succumbing to Parkinson's related pneumonia. He was the husband of Ruth C. (DeKay) Leonard to whom he was married for 60 wonderful years. He was the loving father of Carolyn Leonard-Cho and her husband Stewart of Guilford, CT, and Celia K. Leonard of Bedford, NH. He treasured spending time with his four grandchildren, Adella, Tori, Mackinley, and Asher. He is survived by a large extended family including Jerrilou Shofner, Tim Leonard, and Tom Wagner. He was preceded in death by his siblings, Lillian "Virginia" Leccese, Donald E. Leonard, Madeline Anyan, and Howard Leonard.
He was born January 12, 1939, in Sandpoint, Idaho to the late Nora (Grottke) and Deuane Leonard. He graduated from Sandpoint Senior High School in 1957. Encouraged by high school classmates and staff, Cecil became one of, if not, the first in his family to attend college. He paid for college by working as a forest fire fighter for the State of Idaho Department of Forestry and later for the U.S. Forest Service in Alaska. He graduated from the University of Idaho with a BS in Forest Management in 1962 then joined the U.S. Air Force, serving for over three years. Upon receiving orders to the 6102nd Air Base Wing at Yokota Airbase in Japan, he married Ruth and together they moved to Japan.  He served as a Supply Officer, was promoted to 1st Lieutenant and deployed to Thailand, Korea, and Guam. His performance was recognized via an Outstanding Supply Officer award, unusual for his junior rank. He decided to pursue a higher degree while on active duty, earning credits from the University of Maryland. Upon honorable discharge from the military, he attained his goal of an MBA at the University of Idaho in 1967.
Cecil then began a career in manufacturing that would last 30 years.  He first worked at Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation in Spokane, Washington in the area of Industrial Engineering and Production Control. Kaiser transferred his family of four to RI in 1975 and eventually he was promoted to plant manager of the Portsmouth Kaiser Electrical Products Division. After the plant closed, he moved on to management roles for a variety of companies: Vice President of Operations at Hudson Tool and Die in Newark, NJ, then Vice President of Manufacturing at Collyer Insulated Wire based in Lincoln, RI, and subsequently to Wardwell Braiding Machine Co. based in RI. At Wardwell, he started as the Director Pacific Area Sales and Service in 1989, and then took on Co-Managing Director of Schnellflechter Berlin as well as Vice President of Sales and Marketing.  During this time, his work involved extensive travel around the world including Japan, China, Germany, Taiwan, and circumnavigating the world on at least two trips.
At the age of 60, he left the corporate arena to become an educator. He joined Bristol Community College in Fall River, MA in 1999, taking on the role of Chairperson of the Business Administration Department as well as an Instructor of Management and Marketing.  He relished his time with students, drawing on his own experience of working through college to understand the competing demands on students' time but nonetheless always encouraging them to focus on their future and studies. Even in academia, he was drawn to overseas projects.  He served on a Citizens Democracy Corpse project in Russia in 2000 and later on he worked on a U.S. AID Higher Education for Development project in Morocco.  He retired from BCC after 15 years, positively impacting many and winning the Sceptre and Scroll award, one of the most prestigious BCC faculty awards.
In 1999, he decided to serve the Tiverton community, his home since 1975.  He served on the Tiverton Budget Committee for three terms and was elected as the Town Treasurer for two terms.  Additionally, he won a seat on the Town Council for three terms, the last term being 2010-2012.  He was noted for his measured approach and, even after stepping down, others sought his advice on navigating complex financial policy issues.
When not working, he was a gentleman farmer, focusing on his vegetable garden and peonies. He also enjoyed music, photography, camping, tennis, and coin collecting.  He shared his love of travel and nature, taking family vacations to many national parks and places in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Japan, and Australia. His sage advice, given to his family and anyone else who would listen, is to always ensure you create as many options for yourself as possible and to "learn how to learn." Above all else, he was steadfast in his love and support for his family.
Cecil will live forever in our hearts and be missed by his family and all those who had the good fortune of knowing him.
A celebration of life will be held after the new year. In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory may be made to the Pocasset Lands Stewardship Fund (https://rifoundation.org/funds/pocassetlands-stewardship-fund) or the Bristol Community College Foundation (https://bristolcc.edu/about/thebristolcommunitycollegefoundation/makeadonation.html). To share a memory visit https://www.almeida-pocasset.com/ .

A celebration of life will be held on Friday, March 8th at 3 PM at Bristol Community College (Fall River, MA campus, Building G)."