Ines Maria Leonard

LEONARD, Ines Maria Pastor

Ines died March 27, 2022, when nearly 89 years old.

She has been a faithful member of our St. Philip's in the Hills Episcopal Church and Christ the King Congregation when it was yet a chapel of St. Philips. It was there that she met the, then Rector of Christ the King, Father Tom Leonard, and married in 1975.

Ines was born in Peru and came to the States on a Fulbright Scholarship to study voice and piano at Mills College, California. Before this she had performed often with the Peruvian National Symphony as pianist soloist.

Her Mother was a concert pianist and her Father a diplomat. When in her teens, she performed over Peruvian national radio with a weekly half-hour recital.

Additionally, she danced as a leading ballerina for two years with the Argentinian Ballet Company and for three years with the Pacific Ballet in San Francisco.

She was "First Lady" of five congregations and lay deacon of the Mass as Father Leonard moved through his 45-year ministry. When living in New England, Ines studied oil painting at the Boston Metropolitan Museum of Art and in her painting career received several international awards. A favorite collector of her works is Leon E. Panetta. When living in Tubac, AZ, she taught a Master class in oils at the Tubac Center of the Arts. When at loose ends, she would read for the blind.

She raised two daughters, Daniell Mell (deceased) and Melisa Kary Hart, and was stepmother to Stephen, Keevin, David, Sean and Rebecca Leonard (deceased), Keith, Cheryl and Karen Acker. Her grandchildren are: Kevin and Kary Newman and Austin Kary Thomas. Her cremains will be interred in the Sanctuary Columbarium at St. Philip's. We are grateful for the gift of Ines' remarkable life.

Services to honor Ines will be 2:00 p.m., Saturday, April 9, 2022 at St. Philip's In the Hills Episcopal Church, 4440 N. Campbell Ave., Tucson, AZ 85718. Arrangements by ADAIR FUNERAL HOMES, Dodge Chapel.