To his grandchildren, he is "Grandpa", to his children "Dad", to his wife, "Husband" and mate. To his siblings, "Brother". In each instance they have known him in an intimate and familial way.
But when he associates with or stands among other males and eventually men, he is known and judged in a different manner. He is judged by his character: by the value of his given word, by his openness, trustworthiness, steadfastness, forthrightness, honor and reliability; not to mention a measure of courage, generosity, and largeness of spirit. To the family, one side; to friends and associates another.
No man has to tolerate or remain friends with another for long. It is done by choice and only persists in recognition of the kinds of more public strengths and virtues which he lives daily, and is capable of manifesting to those outside his family circle. Leo had that.
I first met Leo when at age eleven or twelve he coasted up to the front porch on his bicycle, knocked on the door, introduced himself and the pal he had from across his street, and said, "Want to go riding?"
It proved typical of him to be the spark plug, the initiator, the one who precociously sought out new adventures or hunting grounds while I was still wondering who we needed to ask permission of first. I will omit mentioning here our youthful trips beyond the reach of Michigan law to Toledo in order to, so we imagined, try and stock up on exciting fireworks (yes, we got some) and firearms (no, we didn't).
That initial bike ride and others following - and they were almost always "explorations" - evolved into the longest lasting friendship I have ever had, and one pretty remarkable given how widely separated out life paths became at times.
But the same qualities of character he showed when we were virtual schoolkids (and among the youngest in our grade) he retained all his life; and these personal qualities of his eventually led my family, whether I was around or not, to consider him as having a place among them: implicitly trusted, and always, and without reservation, welcome. The way he in later years shouldered some of the farther flung property responsibilities which I was unable to attend to during my folks' decline, and which he casually shrugged off as hunting when it was as much care taking and restoring as chasing game, eased their minds to a degree Leo himself could probably never adequately appreciate.
It was my privilege to call him friend across literal decades, and to be able to truly mean it.
I can say that the entire Wright family shares in, and feels, this loss.
Douglas Wright
