Robert Leslie

The family of Robert C. Leslie regrets to announce his passing on May 6, 2020 in Biloxi Mississippi at the age of 101. Born on October 2,1918 in Newark New Jersey of the marriage of Harold Disbrow Leslie and Rebecca Ruth Flitcroft he lived a rich and varied life.

His early years were spent attending various schools in the northeast. At 20 years of age he became certified to serve as a seaman in 1938. Then taking advantage of an employment / training opportunity he began working for Sonotone corporation beginning his interest in electronics. His initial electronics training benefited him after his being drafted in the Army in October 1941. Recognizing his past training and test scores the Army then sent him to the Signal Corps at Ft Monmouth where he was trained in radio and the new field of radar.

During this time at Ft Monmouth he met his future wife Monica Stephenson who was working as a secretary in New York City where she had moved from her home in Alton, Illinois. They were married one week after the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor.

Upon completing radio/radar school Bob Leslie was selected for Officer Candidate School and was commissioned in the Signal Corps in Sept 1942. He then volunteered for and entered flight training in 1943 - graduating in 1944 as a heavy bomber (B-24) pilot. Then Lt Leslie and his bomber crew having completed their training at the Army Air Field at Tonopah, Nevada then ferried a new B-24 to the Southwest Pacific (5th AF) theater where they participated in bombing operations until the Japanese surrendered in Aug 1945. At the time of the surrender he and his crew were on Okinawa - which had just been secured - and were transitioning to the new Consolidated B-32 heavy bomber with the expectation of continuing operations in support of planned Allied landings on the Japanese islands. With the Japanese surrender they became part of the initial Allied occupation forces of the Japanese home islands.

With the post war reduction of the military Lt Leslie and his crew were then sent back to the US to be released from active duty. He then went back to work for Sonotone Corporation.

The post war great powers tensions that were beginning to intensify in 1947 brought increased requirements for personnel trained in electronics to reenter the military and Lt Leslie was brought back on active duty. From that point he was sent with his family to Keesler AFB MS where he remained until he was sent as a member of the newly formed US Air Force to Ladd AFB at Fairbanks Alaska. With a certain spirit of adventure he and his family set out towing a 36 foot house trailer with a GMC pickup to Fairbanks in the summer of 1950 through Canada and north on the gravel Alaska-Canadian (ALCAN) highway. Surviving the mosquitoes which Bob remembered as making the drive at times feel like a combat zone the family finally arrived to the paved streets of Fairbanks.

After staying in Alaska for several years flying C-47s and single engine L-20 de Havilland Beavers supplying remote sites he and his family were transferred to Scott AFB IL where they remained until orders arrived to the now closed Colville Air Force Station - a General Radar Surveillance Station in NE Washington State.

After a year he was assigned to perform a western states future radar site survey and was based at Geiger Air Force Base in Spokane WA.

In December 1955 Bob and his family sailed to Yokohama Japan on the US Naval Ship General Hugh J. Gaffey for a two week voyage across the Pacific Ocean. Having learned what ‘batten down the hatches’ really means during the last two days of the voyage through a two-day storm they finally arrived in port in January 1956.

The assignment in Japan at Tachikawa AFB involved electronic maintenance/ training and providing fight instruction for Royal Thai Air Force student pilots. While in Japan Bob took advantage of the excellent train service from Tachikawa and attended night classes at Sophia University in Tokyo where he earned a BS Degree in June 1958. As part of the then requirement to attend the University Bob learned Japanese.

Returning to the United States in 1959 Bob was assigned back at Keesler AFB as an electronics instructor. During this time, he enrolled in a Masters Program offered by Mississippi Southern College (now USM) and commuted to Hattiesburg MS to meet his varying class requirements. He graduated with a Masters in Education in June of 1961.

Bob Leslie retired from active duty in the Air Force with the Reserve rank of Major in 1962.

After a short break he was hired as a civilian electronics instructor at Keesler AFB. With his experience in teaching and his language proficiency he later was assigned to the Foreign Student Training Office to help manage the large and varying population of foreign military students attending electronics school at Keesler. Bob retired from the Federal Civil Service in 1983.

Not being one to jump into complete retirement he had maintained his proficiency in flying and had become certified as an Instructor Pilot (IP) in various types of aircraft. He continued to teach flying until the early 1990s and had continued his interest in aviation by active membership in the Order of Daedalians, the Experimental Aircraft Association and the United Flying Octogenarians.

Bob became interested in Financial Management before his retirement from Keesler AFB and eventually became a Manager for the ITT Hamilton Management Corporation providing financial services to residents of the Gulf Coast. He continued his interest in finances and the stock market to the recent past.

Continuing the family tradition of his father, grandfather and father-in-law who were actively involved with the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry Bob Leslie became a Mason of the 33rd Degree in 1995.

Other activities during his post retirement years included in part working as a volunteer for the Gulfport MS Police Department, performing the duties of a Deputy Sheriff for Harrison County MS, delivering Meals On Wheels, driving patients for the Shriner’s Hospitals in Texas & Louisiana, and sponsoring a legal resident for US Citizenship - successfully.

During all the years since the end of WWII he and his family continued to stay in touch with his B-24 crew and met with them periodically at different places all over the US. He was the last surviving crew member.

His Family wishes to thank:

The members and leaders of the Gulfport based non-denominational Church, ‘The Nourishing Place’,

The staff of the ‘Brookdale of Biloxi’ assisted living center in Biloxi MS past and present,

The Gulf Coast Medical Community and The Encompass Hospice Services staff for their caring and outstanding professional support over the years.

Robert C. Leslie was preceded in death by his father in 1948, his mother in 1983 and his wife in 2004. He is survived by his son of Oklahoma City, OK, a Grandson and Great-grandson of Houston TX and a Granddaughter, Great-granddaughter and Great-grandson of Hurst, TX.

Due to the current Virus-related health issues the following guidelines are requested by the Family to be observed:

A ‘Drive By’ viewing has been scheduled at the Riemann Funeral Home, 11280 Three Rivers Rd, Gulfport MS on Wednesday, May 13, 2020. Friends of Bob Leslie are requested to schedule their arrival between the hours of 10:00AM and 12:00 Noon. Note that viewers are requested to remain in their vehicle.

A traditional Chapel/Church service has not been scheduled at this time. However, in place of such a service the Minister of Bob Leslie’s church, The Nourishing Place, has agreed to provide words of comfort to viewers online at the Riemann Funeral Home web site beginning at 10:00AM on Thursday, 14 May 2020. The service will be livestreamed and available at www.riemannfamily.com

To honor the wish of Bob Leslie any donations from his friends in his memory are requested to be directed to the Charity or worthy cause of their choice.

Internment will take place at the Biloxi Mississippi National Cemetery.