- Date Of Birth: May 4, 1925
- Date Of Death: February 23, 2016
- State: Idaho
Frank W. Leonard died in Boise on February 23, 2016 at 90 years of age. Born in Boise on May 4, 1925 to Claude and Gladys Leonard, Frank was the oldest of five children with siblings John (a.k.a. Jack), Fred, Jane, and Judy.
After growing up in Boise and graduating from Boise High in 1943, he served as a Second Lieutenant aerial navigator in the U.S. Army Air Corp Eighth Air Force during WWII, flying combat missions over Germany in a B-24 bomber. After the war, he married Barbara Grissom from Lincoln, Nebraska, and moved back to Boise, attended Boise Junior College (now BSU), and then transferred to the University of Colorado where he graduated in 1951 with a degree in civil engineering. Frank and Barbara had five children.
Frank worked for the Idaho Department of Highways from 1951 to 1964, six years as Chief Design Engineer. From 1964 to 1970, he worked for DeLeuw, Cather International. During this time, he lived in Bangladesh, where he met his second wife, Mosse. They then lived in Thailand, and Tanzania. He served as vice-president in Asia for the last three and a half years with DeLeuw Cather.
In 1970, he moved back to Boise and founded Trusscraft, a manufacturer of roof trusses. In 1982, he opened a branch of Trusscraft in Phoenix, Arizona where he lived until he moved back to Boise in 1990. He managed Trusscraft as president until he sold the company in 1999.
Frank lived in Boise until 1998 when he and his wife Mosse moved to Marsing, Idaho. In 1999, he sold Trusscraft and retired. After Mosse died in 2002 he continued living an active life in Marsing. He was intelligent, creative, multi-talented, and a great conversationalist who was admired by those who knew him. Frank will be missed by his family and friends.
Frank is survived by his brother Fred Leonard, daughter Kathi Anderson, sons Steven Leonard (Mary), John Leonard (Donna), Tom Leonard (Linda), Rod Leonard, stepdaughters Berit Kuykendall (Al) and Eva Golightly (Dennis), 10 grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.
