Former diocesan historiographer David Leedy died on July 12, 2017, at age 77. His funeral service will be at 11am Saturday, July 22, at St. Elisabeth/Christ the King.
Leedy lived with his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for many years. He had been on hospice care for two years, but, as his wife, Dianne, wrote, “He was very strong willed and fought to stay alive.”
Leedy, a business man and CPA, had many interests outside of work. His intellectual curiosity was endless. Dianne Leedy wrote, “When we first married, just over 50 years ago, he was a collector of tropical fish (even piranha.) When we moved to Miami, he became fanatically interested in plants, particularly Ariods. He made several plant collecting trips to Ecuador with other plant enthusiasts. In Los Angeles he had several green houses, [but] let the plant collecting go for a while when we moved to a lake in east Texas and took up fishing, all the time. When we moved to Fort Worth he renewed his plant collecting and put several tables in our back yard to grow his plants. He was a cradle Episcopalian, served as the historiographer for the Diocese of Fort Worth for a few years starting in 2009. He loved The Episcopal Church but was vocal about dissent, as many of you know.”
Leedy was active in the Fort Worth Via Media group that organized prior to the 2008 departure of the bishop and other diocesan leaders from the diocese. The group’s purpose was to educate and advocate for those Episcopalians determined to remain in The Episcopal Church.
In his role as historiographer after the diocese reorganized in 2009, Leedy began assembling diocesan archives, stretching his tiny budget by hunting for desired publications worldwide via the Internet. The historic archives are part of ongoing property litigation.
Leedy was quite a plantsman. As noted above, he was interested in Ariods. Aroid is the common name for members of the Araceae family of plants, sometimes known as the Philodendron or Arum family. This includes houseplants such as anthurium, dieffenbachia, and philodendron. Leedy often shared with other gardeners, and many local gardens feature miniature cannas and various others plants gleaned from his prolific collection.
He loved to write and research. Before he retired, he wrote a book about accounting in the movie industry which was used by many film schools. When he retired, he compiled a book of religious jokes, the story of his life (with many pictures), and a book about growing Aroids in Texas. As his wife commented, “The internet will feel his absence.”