Kenneth Churchill Leonard, Jr., 86

Kenneth Churchill Leonard, Jr., 86, of Lakeville died July 10 at his home. Born in Boston, he was the son of the late Kenneth C. and Viola (Foye) Leonard. He is survived by his wife Linda Grubb, his children Kenneth C. Leonard III and his wife Anh, Seychelle Leonard and her husband Jeff Ferry and their son, Ken’s grandson, Praslin.

Ken or Churchill as he was known growing up, graduated from Nobles Greenough in 1956, Harvard College in 1960 and received his Master’s degree from Indiana University in 1961. After a tour of duty in Naval Intelligence, he held several engineering, financial and management positions at Westinghouse Electric Corporation. During this period he published several professional papers covering a variety of technical topics and included a new interpretation of ‘The Skidi Pawnee Chart of the Heavens’ displayed at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. This paper was published in the journal Archeoastronomy. He conducted extensive research of local colonial sites in Maryland in support of their inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. In the process, he completed a survey of all extant 18^th and 19^th century mill sites in Anne Arundel County. In 1996 he retired to his family’s farm in Lakeville, Massachusetts where he became intrigued by the uniqueness of the countryside and dearth of information about its pre- and early settlement history. In 2003, he wrote THE BEECHWOODS CONFEDERACY (1709-1809), an in-depth history of the Middleboro-Taunton Precinct and in the process developed methodology to provide a means to separate colonial artifacts from those of the previous Native American occupation. His lifelong interest in astronomy combined with his interest in history led him to exploration and documentation of Native ceremonial sites, including one reported on in the Bulletin of the Massachusetts Archeological Society. He was a founding partner of Ceremonial Landscapes Research, LLC that was formed to assist local and federally-recognized Tribes research and document sites of ceremonial significance. His inquisitiveness, technical skill, and broad knowledge will be missed.

At Ken’s request he was buried in a private ceremony on July 13. Those who loved Ken may watch to see his spirit fly by during the Perseid meteor showers.