George Allen Leasure, Jr., 89, died Wednesday, March 27 at home in Van, Texas.
Funeral Services took place Saturday, March 30 at Pruitt Baptist Church in Van, Texas. Graveside services and burial with military honors will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 6 at Holden Cemetery in Holden, Mo. under the direction of Ben Cast & Son – Wood funeral home.
He was born Dec. 25, 1923 in Wichita, Kan. to the late George Allen Leasure, Sr. and Lucy Stella May (Hobbs) Leasure. He lived most of his life in Kansas City, Mo. moving later to St. Louis and then to Van, Texas in 2007.
Leasure was an Army Air Corps veteran of WWII. He flew nineteen missions as ship navigator, but they were shot down on that nineteenth mission. He parachuted into Austria and was held as a prisoner of war for two months until liberated by advance units.
Following the war, he attended Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan. and received a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering in 1948. He worked for Black and Veatch Consulting Engineers in Kansas City, Mo. He did engineering work in Equador, West Pakistan, East Pakistan, Thailand, Bangaladesh, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia, as well as in the United States.
Florence and George met early in 1970 and married that summer. They purchased a home in Overland Park, Kan. in Oct.1970, which was their main place of residence. They enjoyed reading, flower and vegetable gardening, wine making, and travelling to see sights and visit family.
George was a member of Pruitt Baptist Church, was active in the Boy Scouts and the Masonic Blue Lodge. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Doris Lou Pierce Leasure and their four children, David Allen Leasure, Michael Allen Leasure, Steven Craig Leasure, and Georgeanne Ruth Leasure; second wife, Florence McCloud Leasure; and a sister, Eva Lucille Leasure Clark.
Survivors include step-son, Carl Huber and wife, Nancy; step-daughter, Jane Schaberg and husband, John; daughter in law, Sara Leasure; sister in law, Georgia Rehberg; grandchildren, John Leasure, Michael Leasure, David Huber, Rick Huber, and Christine Lyall; nieces, Kathleen Klinger and husband, David, and Laura Nalls and husband, Ronnie; nephews, Wendell Pierce and wife, Ursula, and Richard Newkirk and wife, Martha; and numerous great-nieces and great-nephews.
Memorials are suggested to Mercy Ships, PO Box 2020, Garden Valley, TX 75771, or to Loaves and fishes, PO Box 201, Van, TX 75790