Thomas Leonard

Thomas Leonard, age 75, of Wayne passed Monday, November 26, 2018.

He was born in Paterson and was a lifelong resident of Wayne.  Tom attended the Mountain View School, Anthony Wayne Junior High, and Wayne Valley High School all in Wayne.

He was a United States Army Veteran and served in Korea.  During his service Tom was trained in Nuclear Weapons Technology and stationed in the DMZ in Korea.  He was deeply affected by the many children he saw in Korean orphanages and donated much of his free time in the orphanages there.  He also fondly remembered military service in Fort Bliss, Texas where he got to eat rattlesnake.

After his service he worked for Bob Grimil Construction, was a bar tender at the Hi-Ho Club in Wayne, and worked as a foreman for several years at the Wayne Township Water Department before retiring for health reasons in 2003.

Tom was a dog lover and had several dogs through the years.  Tom’s sister Patricia recalled how she would dog-sit his Irish Setter named Shannon.  Shannon would sit at Patricia’s window and bark at every truck she was hoping it was Tom coming to bring her home.

Tom was instilled with a life-long love of fishing by his father.  Tom cherished a photo of he and his dad fishing in a boat in Pompton Lake.  As a matter of fact Tom’s sister Patricia when fishing once too.  Once is the operative word as she couldn’t stop talking in the boat and was blamed for scaring all the fish away.

Tom was the loving son of the late Michael and Helen Leonard; he was the much loved brother of his sister Patricia Leonard of Wayne.