Leo J. REYNOLDS

REYNOLDS, Leo J. age 95, of Tucson, Arizona, and a former resident of Albuquerque, New Mexico for 53 years, died July 11, 2017, from vascular dementia. Leo was born on June 11, 1922 in Cottage Grove, Wisconsin. Preceding Leo in death are his parents,Thomas and Edna (Doleshaw) Reynolds, his wife Dorothy Murphy who died in 1975 and his wife Luella Upton, who died in 1982; his brothers, Thomas Reynolds (Dorothy Skoien), Lyman Reynolds (Evelyn Brewer), Milo Reynolds , and sister, Marian Bialik, (Frank); his brother-in-law, Warren Murphy (Myrtle Hasskamp, sisters-in-law, June (Maurice Danks), Muriel Murphy (Donald Daley), Ruth Murphy (Harvey Gempeler), two nephews, two nieces and one great-grandson, Jared Mollenkopf. Leo is survived by his daughters, Beverly (Mike) Uhl and Wendy (Mike) Stoner and one son, William Reynolds; his grandchildren, Dawn (Marc) Bethea, Andrew Uhl, Scott (Erica) Mollenkopf, and Michael Mollenkopf; and four great-grandchildren, Chrystal Baker, Samantha Sloan, Patrick Sloan, and Morgan Mollenkopf; Audrey Fimbres and her family, a sister-in-law, Lil Reynolds, and numerous nieces and nephews. Wanting to please his mother, Leo attended East High in Madison, which was a twelve mile walk from home. After his graduation from East High in Madison, Wisconsin, he entered the CCC where a counselor noticed his exceptional test scores and made it possible for Leo to attend college during the day and work as a night guard. His college education was interrupted when he was drafted in the Army in 1944. He was trained as a forward observer and was stationed in Ft. Sill, Oklahoma and in Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. In 1946 he was discharged from the Army and returned to the University of Wisconsin where he graduated with a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering in 1948. He worked for the Gisholt Machine Company in Madison, Wisconsin, until 1951 when he was hired by Sandia National Laboratory. With the promise of returning to Wisconsin every year on vacation, he and his family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico. While working at Sandia National Laboratory, he was occasionally sent on business trips. His daughter, Beverly asked why, and he replied he was a trouble shooter. Sometimes he was away from home for two weeks when problems occurred in two different cities. Leo also submitted suggestions for cost savings, which potentially saved Sandia Corporation nearly one million dollars. During lunch, Leo and his partner would play ping-pong and they won a second place trophy and a first place trophy. Later Leo became a technical writer, which offered better job security. Leo retired from Sandia National Laboratory in 1987. Leo enjoyed all types of sports, especially football. Sometimes he would watch two football games on television and listen to a third game on his radio. Leo did all the repairs and maintenance on his cars and passed his knowledge on to his son, Bill. With her dad's help, his daughter Wendy successfully predicted which football teams would win every year. He was an avid Rush Limbaugh fan and listened to him every morning on his radio. A special thanks go out to his daughter Wendy and her husband Mike for supervising his care, also to his son Bill for taking care of finances, and his wonderful care givers Steven, Josefina, Destiny, Lupe, Lucy, Mary 1, 2, 3, Letty, and Rose. His funeral will be on Monday, July 24, 2017 at 11:15 a.m. at the National Cemetery in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to https://www.dementiasociety.org/ Arrangements by BRING'S BROADWAY CHAPEL