Robert G. Leland

LELAND, Robert G., age 89, of Washington Township, died on Aug. 31, 2022. He is survived by his wife, Anita Shannon Leland; his children, Kurt Leland of Boston, Mass., Carl Leland of Dayton, Wes (Alicia) Leland of Durango, Colo., Kathleen (Tim) Norman of Wilmington, Ohio; and his grandchildren, Jenna Norman and Daniel Norman, also of Wilmington.

Bob was born on Siebenthaler Ave., in Dayton, Ohio, on July 9, 1933, the youngest child of George H. and Hazel Z. (Miner) Leland. He spent a joyful boyhood in the woods near his home on the banks of the Stillwater River with Duke, his white collie.

A 1951 graduate of Fairview High School, Bob served in the United States Air Force from 1952 to 1957, including three years in Chateauroux, France. He and Nita, his high-school sweetheart, married on July 2, 1955, at First United Methodist Church in Dayton, Ohio. They returned to France for eighteen months to reside in Issoudun, a village near the Air Force base, enabling them to travel to Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and London while overseas.

Following his military service, Bob and Nita moved to Delaware, Ohio, where he majored in Economics and Business Administration and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1960. The family relocated to Cincinnati, where Bob received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Law in 1963. He served on the editorial board and contributed articles to the University of Cincinnati Law Review. Bob became a qualified member of the Dayton Bar Association and the Ohio State Bar Association and was admitted and qualified as an Attorney and Counsellor of the Supreme Court of the State of Ohio (1964) and the U.S. Supreme Court (1971).

Bob began his legal career at the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office in 1963, moving to the law firm of Pickrel, Schaeffer & Ebeling from 1967 to 1986. He later joined Cox, Ginger & Leland, and continued to work into his 88th year from his home office in Washington Township.

Bob served as President of The Leland Family Foundation, which provided financial support to non-profit organizations of interest to George and Hazel Leland’s children and grandchildren. During his career, Bob also served on the board of the Dayton Museum of Natural History, where his four children attended summer classes.

Bob Leland was a self-professed “car guy” and an ardent supporter of the National Corvette Museum. He was also a member of the Miami Valley Skeet Club and a competitor in the sport for several years. He enjoyed sailing at Cowan Lake, horse packing in the Colorado Rockies, and river rafting on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. Married to Nita for 67 years, Bob was her biggest fan in her art career as she advanced from learning to paint in watercolor to teaching and writing art instruction books.

Bob was a long-time member of Southminster Presbyterian Church in Centerville. Along with his parents, Bob was instrumental in the installation of the stained glass window in 1968.

Funeral Services will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022, at Routsong Funeral Home, 2100 E. Stroop Rd., Kettering. Family will greet friends beginning at 10:30 a.m. Burial will take place at Dayton Memorial Park Cemetery after the service. In lieu of flowers, family and friends may make memorial contributions in Robert G. Leland’s name to the historic Murphy Theatre, https://themurphytheatre.org , or to a charitable organization of their choice.

The family would like to express its thanks to the many helpful caregivers at Kettering Hospital Network, Miami Valley Hospital South, and Hospice of Dayton. Please send condolences to the family by signing the guestbook at www.routsong.com.