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Leonard Wilson Obituary
Leonard Leroy Wilson died May 3rd, 2024, in Grove City, Ohio where he had been living at Grove City Senior Living near where his daughter and son-in-law Cheryl and Rich Pereksta lived.
He was born May 1st, 1930, in White Lake, Wisconsin, the son of George and Sarah Wilson. The family moved to Springfield, Ohio in 1941, where Leonard graduated from Springfield High School in 1948. He served in the United States Army during the Korean War from 1951 to 1953 as a pharmacy technician in an evacuation hospital. He married Shirley Jane Detrick August 17th, 1952, and the very happy marriage lasted 67 years till her death in September 2019. They had 3 children, Bruce Alan Wilson of Chandler, Arizona, Cheryl Diane Pereksta (Husband Richard) of Grove City, Ohio, and Terry Scott Wilson (Wife Tammy) of West Liberty, Ohio. They had 5 grandchildren Nick Pereksta, Scott (wife Emma) Pereksta, Kevin Pereksta, Sean Pereksta, and Crystal (Husband Bill) Stevenson.
Leonard graduated from Wittenberg University, Summa Cum Laude, class of 1957. He taught English and served as Department Chairman at Springfield South High School from 1957 to 1986, receiving an award of Exemplary Teacher in 1986.
He was an amateur musician, singing and playing saxophone for several years. He directed the choir at Lagonda United Methodist Church for over 15 years. He also acted in plays and directed for Springfield Civic Theater and Ohio Lyric Theater. His wife Shirley also participated in these activities and later on, the two served as a musical duo called ShirLen, with Leonard singing and Shirley accompanying on the piano. Her death ended a deeply loving partnership.
At his request, Leonard's body was donated to the medical school at Wright State University.
A Memorial Service will be held at Northridge United Methodist, 4610 Derr Road, Springfield, Ohio 45503 Saturday May 25th, 2024. Visitation at noon with service at 1:00 PM.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for Leonard Wilson
2 Entries
Beth
September 18, 2025
I will never forget how Mr. Wilson encouraged my love of reading. I wasn't a big reader until I read Catcher in the Rye and The Scarlett Letter in Mr. Wilson's class. While I wasn't a fan of Beowulf, I do remember trying to get through it in his class. Thanks, Mr. Wilson, for believing in me all those years ago. Am now a teacher myself.
Julie Duncan VanSteenburg
May 16, 2024
Mr Wilson was one of my favorite teachers at South High. My deepest sympathy for his family.
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