Leon J. Dardis passed away peacefully on October 13, 2025 in Aurora, Colorado. He was 89 years old. Joy, love and generosity defined his long life. He was a beloved husband, father, brother, uncle, grandfather, great-grandfather and friend. He is, and will forever be, deeply missed by all lucky enough to have known him.
Leon was born on May 29, 1936, in Passaic, New Jersey. He was the youngest child of Martin and Mary (Haley) Dardis. His was a large, poor family that had to stick together and support each other to survive the hard life they had in and around Newark, N.J. In so doing, Leon absorbed a deep lesson about the importance of family, a lesson that would guide and inspire him his entire life. "Family is the most important thing," he would often say.
Life got especially tough for him and his family when his father died in 1940, when Leon was just three years old. His mother, who never remarried, soldiered on and raised her seven surviving children on her own. One by one, as they came of age, all the Dardis kids quit high school and went to work to help support the family.
Leon followed suit, quitting high school after his sophomore year at Orange High School to take a job as a stock-boy at the Bamberger's Department Store in downtown Newark. Before that, while still in school, he chipped in by scraping together any work he could find. He shined shoes, delivered newspapers, worked as a golf caddy and bowling alley 'pin boy', washed cars, delivered milk, shoveled snow, scrubbed local shops clean, sold holiday carnations, worked fruit and vegetable wagons, delivered for delis and ran errands for folks all over the neighborhood.
After Bamberger's, and a stint as a stock-boy at one of the first ShopRite supermarkets in New Jersey, Leon decided to join the U.S. Army - which he did on August 31, 1954, at the age of eighteen. He had wanted to join when he was seventeen, to fulfill his patriotic duty during the Korean War, but his mother refused to sign the required waiver, fearing for his safety.
After Basic Training in Fort Dix, N.J. Leon was sent to ordinance school in Germany and then got stationed at the Trois Fontaines Ordinance Depot in the Lorraine province of France. It's there that he met the woman who would become his wife and lifetime companion, Mireille (Mimi) Potdevin, who was from the nearby village of Mogneville and worked at the base. They were married in Bar-le-Duc, France in 1958.
Thus began Leon and Mimi's twenty-six year whirlwind of Army life, constantly moving from one post to another. (They once calculated how many times they moved as a couple throughout their lives, it was something like twenty-six times!). Along the way, and in various places, they had six children: Marty and Tom in Watertown, New York; Herve in Verdun, France; John and Lorraine in Augsburg, Germany; and Frank in Lakewood, New Jersey.
During his distinguished military career, Leon served in Viet Nam and Thailand during the Viet Nam war, Korea during peacetime, at posts in Kansas, Alabama, Virginia and New Jersey, and at bases in Augsburg, Mannheim and Munich, Germany. He and his family were stationed in Mannheim alone three different times. A family joke is that Mannheim is as close as they ever got to having a hometown - at least until Toms River, N.J. later competed for the honor. But no matter the location, Leon and Mimi always made the Dardis home a cherished hub for family and friends, who gathered there and relished countless hours swapping stories, some of them true, around its legendary kitchen table.
Leon entered the Army as a buck private, but retired as Chief Warrant Officer Four, then the highest rank available to a non-commissioned officer. Along the way he was awarded a Bronze Star for his service in Vietnam, two Meritorious Service Medals, three Army Commendation medals, a Presidential Unit Citation in Vietnam, a Unit Citation in Thailand, a Good Conduct medal, a Vietnam Service Medal, a Cross of Gallantry with Palm, a Korean Defense Medal, a State of New Jersey Distinguished Service medal, a Sharpshooter Badge and a Noncommissioned Officers Professional Development Medal.
Leon also entered the Army as a high school dropout, but while in the service he earned his GED High School degree and an Associate's Degree from Ocean County College in New Jersey. He retired from the Army in 1980 and moved to Toms River, N.J., where he and Mimi had bought a house in 1971. That house became the long-term Dardis family home.
Leon then went on to earn a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice from Stockton State College and a Masters Degree in Counseling and Therapy from Rider University, both in New Jersey. He put both degrees to good use, working extensively to care for and protect runaway and troubled kids at both Covenant House in New York City and Harbor House in Ocean County, N.J. He also helped families in need during his tenure as a counselor for Catholic Charities and created a local volunteer organization in Toms River to help find missing children.
As Leon and Mimi got older, they bought a second home in Lakeland, Florida, where their son Marty lived with his family. For years they split time between New Jersey and Florida. But age caught up to them, such that they eventually settled in Lakeland full-time. After Marty passed away, they moved in with their son Frank in State College, Pennsylvania. But then their son Herve retired to Denver, Colorado, so Leon and Mimi decided to move there full-time. True to their Army life roots, they just couldn't stop moving.
Leon was proud of his Irish heritage. Loving music of many genres, he adored Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet and Edith Piaf. And he sang so, so beautifully. He idolized Mickey Mantle, Joe Louis, Bill Russell and Jim Thorpe. He revered Jackie Gleason, dug Redd Foxx and had an encyclopedic memory of old movies. He never tired of giving away authentic Irish woolen 'flat' caps to family, friends, acquaintances and complete strangers alike. Ditto twenty-dollar bills. And he was funny, very funny, glowing with that sublime Irish trait of subverting life's seriousness with cutting humor. He loved dogs, being a devoted and tender papa to Fifi, Misty, Brandy and Daisy. He was not, however, crazy about cats.
Leon was predeceased by his father Martin (1940), his mother Mary (1970), his sisters Mary, Jeanne, Patricia and Kathleen, his brothers Martin and Theodore, his daughter Lorraine (2018), his son Marty (2023) and his son-in-law Lynn Walsh (2024). He is survived by his wife Mireille (Mimi, in Aurora, Colorado); his children, Tom Dardis (Pam Bailey) (in Bainbridge Island, Washington), Herve Dardis (Penny Mussche) (in Centennial, Colorado), John Dardis (Carolyn Greco) (in Los Angeles, California), Frank Dardis (in State College, Pennsylvania) and his daughter-in-law Badonna Dardis (in Lakeland, Florida); his grandchildren, Aaron Dardis (Heather Fox), Zachary Dardis, Kylie Dardis (Jason Kane), Ryan Dardis, Sean Dardis (Clare Ingolia), Brian Dardis, Ashley Watson (Kyle Watson), Maggie Dardis, Colin Dardis and Daniel Walsh; his great-grandchildren, Madison Dardis, Easton Dardis, Mason Fox, Jack Dardis, Kate Dardis and Max Dardis; his sister Julia Maffei and her husband John (Old Bridge, N.J.); and numerous and loving nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
Leon's guiding values, and thus his virtues, were apparent to all who knew him: Service, Compassion, Charity, Justice and, above all else, Family. He was infinitely generous, his love and kindness leaving a profound mark on the lives of all those fortunate to have been graced by him. His loss and absence will be felt no less profoundly. May he rest in peace, content in knowing that he made such a big difference in so many lives.
The family is making arrangements to memorialize and celebrate Leon's life in late May of 2026 in Denver, CO. Details to follow.
Donations in Leon's name can be made to:
St. Jude Children's Hospital
www.stjude.org
Covenant House
www.covenanthouse.org
(Or to a reputable Veterans support organization of your choice.)
Leon was born on May 29, 1936, in Passaic, New Jersey. He was the youngest child of Martin and Mary (Haley) Dardis. His was a large, poor family that had to stick together and support each other to survive the hard life they had in and around Newark, N.J. In so doing, Leon absorbed a deep lesson about the importance of family, a lesson that would guide and inspire him his entire life. "Family is the most important thing," he would often say.
Life got especially tough for him and his family when his father died in 1940, when Leon was just three years old. His mother, who never remarried, soldiered on and raised her seven surviving children on her own. One by one, as they came of age, all the Dardis kids quit high school and went to work to help support the family.
Leon followed suit, quitting high school after his sophomore year at Orange High School to take a job as a stock-boy at the Bamberger's Department Store in downtown Newark. Before that, while still in school, he chipped in by scraping together any work he could find. He shined shoes, delivered newspapers, worked as a golf caddy and bowling alley 'pin boy', washed cars, delivered milk, shoveled snow, scrubbed local shops clean, sold holiday carnations, worked fruit and vegetable wagons, delivered for delis and ran errands for folks all over the neighborhood.
After Bamberger's, and a stint as a stock-boy at one of the first ShopRite supermarkets in New Jersey, Leon decided to join the U.S. Army - which he did on August 31, 1954, at the age of eighteen. He had wanted to join when he was seventeen, to fulfill his patriotic duty during the Korean War, but his mother refused to sign the required waiver, fearing for his safety.
After Basic Training in Fort Dix, N.J. Leon was sent to ordinance school in Germany and then got stationed at the Trois Fontaines Ordinance Depot in the Lorraine province of France. It's there that he met the woman who would become his wife and lifetime companion, Mireille (Mimi) Potdevin, who was from the nearby village of Mogneville and worked at the base. They were married in Bar-le-Duc, France in 1958.
Thus began Leon and Mimi's twenty-six year whirlwind of Army life, constantly moving from one post to another. (They once calculated how many times they moved as a couple throughout their lives, it was something like twenty-six times!). Along the way, and in various places, they had six children: Marty and Tom in Watertown, New York; Herve in Verdun, France; John and Lorraine in Augsburg, Germany; and Frank in Lakewood, New Jersey.
During his distinguished military career, Leon served in Viet Nam and Thailand during the Viet Nam war, Korea during peacetime, at posts in Kansas, Alabama, Virginia and New Jersey, and at bases in Augsburg, Mannheim and Munich, Germany. He and his family were stationed in Mannheim alone three different times. A family joke is that Mannheim is as close as they ever got to having a hometown - at least until Toms River, N.J. later competed for the honor. But no matter the location, Leon and Mimi always made the Dardis home a cherished hub for family and friends, who gathered there and relished countless hours swapping stories, some of them true, around its legendary kitchen table.
Leon entered the Army as a buck private, but retired as Chief Warrant Officer Four, then the highest rank available to a non-commissioned officer. Along the way he was awarded a Bronze Star for his service in Vietnam, two Meritorious Service Medals, three Army Commendation medals, a Presidential Unit Citation in Vietnam, a Unit Citation in Thailand, a Good Conduct medal, a Vietnam Service Medal, a Cross of Gallantry with Palm, a Korean Defense Medal, a State of New Jersey Distinguished Service medal, a Sharpshooter Badge and a Noncommissioned Officers Professional Development Medal.
Leon also entered the Army as a high school dropout, but while in the service he earned his GED High School degree and an Associate's Degree from Ocean County College in New Jersey. He retired from the Army in 1980 and moved to Toms River, N.J., where he and Mimi had bought a house in 1971. That house became the long-term Dardis family home.
Leon then went on to earn a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice from Stockton State College and a Masters Degree in Counseling and Therapy from Rider University, both in New Jersey. He put both degrees to good use, working extensively to care for and protect runaway and troubled kids at both Covenant House in New York City and Harbor House in Ocean County, N.J. He also helped families in need during his tenure as a counselor for Catholic Charities and created a local volunteer organization in Toms River to help find missing children.
As Leon and Mimi got older, they bought a second home in Lakeland, Florida, where their son Marty lived with his family. For years they split time between New Jersey and Florida. But age caught up to them, such that they eventually settled in Lakeland full-time. After Marty passed away, they moved in with their son Frank in State College, Pennsylvania. But then their son Herve retired to Denver, Colorado, so Leon and Mimi decided to move there full-time. True to their Army life roots, they just couldn't stop moving.
Leon was proud of his Irish heritage. Loving music of many genres, he adored Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet and Edith Piaf. And he sang so, so beautifully. He idolized Mickey Mantle, Joe Louis, Bill Russell and Jim Thorpe. He revered Jackie Gleason, dug Redd Foxx and had an encyclopedic memory of old movies. He never tired of giving away authentic Irish woolen 'flat' caps to family, friends, acquaintances and complete strangers alike. Ditto twenty-dollar bills. And he was funny, very funny, glowing with that sublime Irish trait of subverting life's seriousness with cutting humor. He loved dogs, being a devoted and tender papa to Fifi, Misty, Brandy and Daisy. He was not, however, crazy about cats.
Leon was predeceased by his father Martin (1940), his mother Mary (1970), his sisters Mary, Jeanne, Patricia and Kathleen, his brothers Martin and Theodore, his daughter Lorraine (2018), his son Marty (2023) and his son-in-law Lynn Walsh (2024). He is survived by his wife Mireille (Mimi, in Aurora, Colorado); his children, Tom Dardis (Pam Bailey) (in Bainbridge Island, Washington), Herve Dardis (Penny Mussche) (in Centennial, Colorado), John Dardis (Carolyn Greco) (in Los Angeles, California), Frank Dardis (in State College, Pennsylvania) and his daughter-in-law Badonna Dardis (in Lakeland, Florida); his grandchildren, Aaron Dardis (Heather Fox), Zachary Dardis, Kylie Dardis (Jason Kane), Ryan Dardis, Sean Dardis (Clare Ingolia), Brian Dardis, Ashley Watson (Kyle Watson), Maggie Dardis, Colin Dardis and Daniel Walsh; his great-grandchildren, Madison Dardis, Easton Dardis, Mason Fox, Jack Dardis, Kate Dardis and Max Dardis; his sister Julia Maffei and her husband John (Old Bridge, N.J.); and numerous and loving nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
Leon's guiding values, and thus his virtues, were apparent to all who knew him: Service, Compassion, Charity, Justice and, above all else, Family. He was infinitely generous, his love and kindness leaving a profound mark on the lives of all those fortunate to have been graced by him. His loss and absence will be felt no less profoundly. May he rest in peace, content in knowing that he made such a big difference in so many lives.
The family is making arrangements to memorialize and celebrate Leon's life in late May of 2026 in Denver, CO. Details to follow.
Donations in Leon's name can be made to:
St. Jude Children's Hospital
www.stjude.org
Covenant House
www.covenanthouse.org
(Or to a reputable Veterans support organization of your choice.)
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Leon Joseph Dardis, please visit our flower store.
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