John McKenzie Leahy was born in Bonne Terre, Missouri March 30, 1928 and died May 5, 2015 in Long Beach, California, he was 87. A life long resident of Long Beach, John was the first of three boys born around the depression era. James Richard preceded John in death, his youngest brother David Armstrong resides in Oakland. John married Betty Joyce in 1958 and they had over 56 years together. In 1963, they produced an only child, Patricia Marion, and broke the mold. Patricia, or Patty, married Jim McCormick, and they reside in Tehachapi, CA. John had a short career in service to the Marines; in November and December of 1950, John was part of the Chosin Reservoir Marine Campaign that was overrun by Chinese while stationed in Korea. This molded John's future as an Aerospace Engineer, over 36 years with Rockwell, North American, McDonnell Douglas, all in southern California. John finished his career with Douglas as a quality engineer, delivering aircraft from Douglas to buyers overseas in 1990. In John's free time, he liked to camp and shoot with his brother; daughter and their kids. Later on in life, he bought a boat. A sailboat. Captain Bly, aka John, was a terror to the main crew of his wife and daughter, and soon was mutinied where John had to find a new crew. His son in law found out about the mutiny, and never sailed. One of Jim's brothers stated that John was a great sailor, they had a blast! John was an avid gun collector, and his marksmanship was excellent. He was a good instructor, teaching and preaching safety as he taught both Betty and Patty. John has always been a gear head. He loved any sporty car, and if it wasn't sporty, he was thinking of a way to make it so. Classic cars were especially appealing; Patty's first car was a dog, but the second car was a Fiat spyder convertible. John taught Patty how to clean and gap plugs, and all the maintenance required to keep the car running. Early on in marriage, Betty and John had an Austin Healy that they tooled around in. John's last car he bought was a 2013 Ford Mustang convertible. His garage looks like he had all the tools to maintain the multiple vehicles he owned, and still has all the old parts and tools to prove it! Signal Hill came calling in 1997. While John was still pretty active with his boat and sometime golf game, he found that he had time enough to help out the city by volunteering to be a police volunteer; help with parking tickets, patrolling disabled parking spots, and issuing subpoenas. The city of Signal Hill recognized John as the Outstanding Older American for 2003 and was honored at a luncheon by the LA County board of supervisors. During this transition, John now had more time to golf, and joined the local chapter of the Chosin Few, where he met Marines and their families that had shared similar experiences in Korea. John was the treasurer several years ago. John leaves behind his wife, daughter, son in law, brother, two sisters-in-law, and 7 nieces and nephews.
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