William Harmon LEETE

LEETE, William Harmon
William Harmon Leete "Harmon" died on March 26, 2012 in Hartford, the city in which he was born on September 12, 1931 to William C. Leete and Doris Harmon Leete. The family moved from West Hartford to Longmeadow, MA, where he attended Longmeadow Junior High School. A loyal alumnus of Andover and Yale, he met his wife Betty on a blind date for the Yale Junior Prom when she was at Wellesley. Yale gave him his diploma even though he still owed a term paper on James Joyce, which he turned in after writing it while in the U.S. Navy aboard the carrier Intrepid. What he referred to as his "trade school" was Harvard Law, from which he graduated prior to his Navy service. On returning to civilian life he worked first with the law firm of Steele & Maxwell in Hartford, then for several different divisions of United Technologies, where he delighted in playing April Fool's day pranks. On one he posted a notice that the Otis elevators in the Gold Building, where UTC offices began on the 22th floor, would be out of service for ten days and that officers would be helicoptered to the roof and others who did not want to walk up could take vacation time. He traveled widely for UTC and also for pleasure, often with a group of four couples self-titled the "Boubalinas", named for a Greek heroine. A week prior to his death he was focusing on a trip to San Francisco for a Yale Class mini-reunion, and planning a trip down the Danube and to Turkey. After retirement from UTC he continued to practice law up to December of 2011, primarily as counsel to DeMaria Electro Optics, later known as Coherent Inc. He began rowing at Yale and continued throughout his life, primarily as a member of the Hartford Barge Club "Ancient and Honorable Four", coxed at one point by Brewster Perkins wearing tails and a top hat. Jeff Carstens, one of the four, would calculate with his slide rule what prize the Four would have taken had they been given an age handicap. After a knee injury he rowed with Riverfront Recapture, where he rejoiced in being relieved of carrying the boat to or from the water by other volunteers. No one enjoyed good food and drink more than Harmon; he was the hostess's delight, and belonged to the Hartford Club, the 1892 Club, the Madison Beach Club, a scotch-tasting group and a book club. He was an amateur astronomer who could spot a waning moon in a painting that faced the wrong way. He was a published and prize-winning serious poet, as well as an accomplished writer of funny doggerel and songs for all occasions. He loved skiing and sailing, calling his summer place "Yawl Come". A dedicated gardener, he chose law over farming so he could sleep later. He passed his sense of humor down to his four children, William Harmon Leete Jr. (Bill), Lisle Baker Leete, Russell Leete, and Virginia Leete Beach. He was blessed with five wonderful grandchildren, Christopher Leete, son of Bill and his wife Emily Dickinson, Zachary Leete, son of Lisle and his wife Lauri Semarne, and Gus, Max and Ben Beach, sons of Virginia and Charles Beach. He leaves two brothers, Robert Leete married to Susan Leete, and Richard Leete, married to Esso Leete.
Calling hours will be from 4-7 p.m. Friday March 30, 2012 at Leete-Stevens Enfield Chapels, 61 South Rd., Enfield, CT. Burial will be private. A memorial service will be held 11 a.m. Saturday March 31, 2012 at the First Church of Christ, Congregational, 12 South Main Street, West Hartford. Donations in his memory may be made to the Friends of Elizabeth Park, P.O. Box 370371, West Hartford, CT, 06137. For directions, and to leave an online condolence, please visit www.Leetestevens.com.