Charles Leef

Charles Richard Leef 6/16/1922 – 11/3/2014

Dick Leef, husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather, passed away Monday afternoon Nov. 3rd 2014 at the age of 92. Born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he left Minnesota after graduating from the Univ. of Minnesota in 1944 and came west to design airplanes for North American Aviation. He worked 50 years for the same company, and was instrumental in the design and operation of the tri-sonic wind tunnel in El Segundo. From 1969 through his retirement in 1993 he worked on the space shuttle program in Downey. In 2003 following the Columbia disaster, Boeing called him out of retirement and he worked overtime for three years to help in the redesign and testing of the space shuttle. He had a lifelong love of music, and spent many days each week involved with musical activities. In addition to singing for almost 50 years in the church choir at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Redondo Beach, he and his wife Eunice participated in two different singing groups, the Motet, and the Baroque Consortium, that performed in the South Bay for many years. He was also a longtime violinist for the Palos Verdes Peninsula Symphony, playing for the symphony for more than 40 years. He also had a love of the outdoors, backpacking with the Boy Scouts and then organizing his own 50 mile longterm backpacks with family and friends well into his 70's. He was married in 1947 to the love of his life, Eunice Melander, and they shared 57 years together before her death in 2004. He is survived by his older brother Robert Leef, his five children Laurel Leef Dahlen, Dixon Leef, Jinnell Leef Cox, Holly Leef Barsugli and Quentin Leef, as well as 13 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren. A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, November 15th at Resurrection Lutheran Church, 330 Palos Verdes Blvd, Redondo Beach at 2:00 PM. Please sign the guest book at greenhillsmortuary.com or dailybreeze.com.