TUPPER LAKE — Francis J. Leonard of Keeseville, formerly of Tupper Lake, passed away peacefully Sept. 11, 2011, at CVPH Medical Center after a brief illness.
Francis was born in Norfolk, N.Y., on Nov. 30, 1915, the son of the late Michael (Pearley) and Charlotte Quigley Leonard. He moved to Tupper Lake at age 7 when his father became ill from working at a paint factory. Because of his father's illness, Francis began working at age 8 on a farm for $5 a week. He would get up at 4 a.m. to milk the 10 cows, clean the barn and feed the cows. Then he would go to school where he worked as the janitor to start the fire, sweep the floors, clean the chalkboard, then attend class. After school, he went back to the farm to milk the cows again.
Francis had to quit school at age 15 to help care for his family. He worked at the Oval Wood Dish and in the woods. In the spring of 1934, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps at Cross Clearing near Tupper Lake. He worked there for three years, clearing trees along highways, fighting fires. His time in the CCC is documented in the book "Adirondack Civilian Conservation Corps Camps" by Martin Podskoch.
Francis also worked in Plattsburgh at Cliff Haven Summer School as a glassware washer from 4 a.m. till the evening, quitting that job after getting sick and losing 15 lbs. He then worked in Lyon Mountain, remodeling iron company homes. After that he worked at the Swenson Camp in Coreys, cutting wood and taking care of their golf course. In 1942, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he was stationed in the motor pool at Greenwich Air Base in England. He received an honorable discharge in 1945 and came back to the States on the Queen Mary. He then worked in the woods until 1951, when he got a job as a painter at Sunmount VA in Tupper Lake. When the VA hospital closed in Tupper Lake, he transferred to the Montrose, N.Y., VA Hospital, coming home every weekend to help his mother and family.
In 1973, he married Edith Gale DeShaw. Francis retired shortly afterward and he and Edith made their home on McLaughlin Avenue in Tupper Lake where he continued working hard to maintain beautiful gardens and improve their home. Edith died in 2001, cared for by Francis in her final months and his family presented him with an honorary "nursing degree." After Edith's passing, he continued to keep a clean and tidy home and his flower gardens, shoveling snow off his roofs well into his nineties before moving to the Keeseville home of Jan and David Washburn in 2008, where he adopted cats Jesse, Miss Kitty and dog Coco.
Francis is survived by three stepdaughters and sons-in law, Theresa (DeShaw) and Daye Cleaveland, Mary (DeShaw) and Jim Blanchard of Raquette Lake, N.Y., Jan (DeShaw) and David Washburn of Keeseville; a daughter-in-law, Pam Mason of Raquette Lake; a sister and brother-in-law, Ruth and Ernie Kenny of Massachusetts; brother, Eddie Leonard of Tupper Lake; brother-in-law, Jim Pendland and sister-in-law, Monica Leonard. He is also survived by ten grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; and many loving nieces and nephews.
He was predeceased by his wife, Edith; a stepson, Roy DeShaw; a great-granddaughter, Bethany; brothers, George, John, Edgar; and sisters, Cecilia (Pendland), Margaret (Lamoy) and twin infants who died at birth.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to North Country Life Flight or the charity of your choice in Francis' memory.
Calling hours will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 14, from 11 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. at the Stuart-Fortune-Keough Funeral Home in Tupper Lake. A Mass of Christian burial will follow at 1 p.m. at St. Alphonsus Church. Burial with full military honors will be in the parish cemetery.
