John Lander Leonard 1936-2014

John Leonard was a dedicated member of the Rincon Group Sierra Club and served the Group in many ways. He was active for many years. Some memories of John have resurfaced. For example, because he taught math at the University of Arizona we thought he would be the logical person to be our treasurer. He served at that post for many years.

At one point, John began organizing and presenting the program meetings for the Rincon Group. He scheduled programs that continually filled the large classrooms. Our first location was in the Architecture Building (now Creative Photography). We outgrew that and moved to the PAS (Physics/Atmospheric Science) Building. The evening that Ed Abbey spoke we had to move to the Modern Languages Building to handle the crowd.

John was an ardent recycler and he and I were the first recycling team. He did all the work and I drove the truck. Readers of En él Rincon, our newsletter, responded to John's plea to gather newspapers and other paper items, bundle them, and put them on the curb on a specific date. Each participant sent a postcard to the Club's post office box. John collected the cards and plotted a map. He navigated and I drove. We picked up paper—no cans or glass.

At some point, John thought it would be good if the Rincon Group sold Sierra Club books and calendars. We sold books and calendars everywhere: at meetings, the 4th Avenue Street Fair, outside the Student Union, and at the rehearsals of our respective orchestras.

As the years passed John became less active in the Sierra Club and more active in the Tucson musical scene. Occasionally we would play in the same musical ensembles.

John and his wife, Cecelia, were part of the contra-dance group in Tucson. I saw them there. John and Cecelia's daughter, Allegra, and I did miles of walking for various candidates—especially for Gayle Hartmann in her bid for Tucson City Council in 2001.

We have great memories of John. He was a true Renaissance man. We who knew him count ourselves as the very fortunate.

 Obituary and Condolences -- for John Lander Leonard (1936 -- 2014)