Joseph R. Leary III

Joseph R. Leary, III passed away from Parkinson's Plus/MSA on July 17, 2019 in Boise, Idaho, a date of prime numbers 7/17/19, which is only appropriate since as a mathematician he loved prime numbers.  Joe was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph R. Leary, Jr, D.O. and Mary Alice Leary, RN, of Miami, Florida, his older sister Patricia Miller of Oklahoma, and his nephews William Daye and Greg Daye, both of Florida. Joe is survived by his younger sister, Bette Pinder of Florida, his three children, son Joseph R. Leary and his wife Leslie Battell of Florida, son John M. Leary and his wife Nina Leary of Idaho, daughter Karla (Leary) Allen and her husband Craig Allen of Oregon, their mother, his former wife and dear friend, June Leary of Idaho, and his close friend Marshall Garber of Florida. Joe is also survived by his cherished companion and sweetheart, Barbara Mortela of Idaho. Joe leaves behind 13 grandchildren and 8 nieces and nephews. In January of this year his children and their spouses, along with their mother, and his companion Barb all gathered together in the home of his son John in Idaho to celebrate Joe's 80th birthday. Joe was born and raised in Miami, Florida, the second child and only son of the Learys. He attended grade schools in Miami and graduated from Miami Senior High in 1956. Academically while in high school Joe was a member of the National Honor Society and the Key Club. Athletically Joe made frequent appearances in the Miami Herald as a starting member of legendary Miami Senior High boys basketball coach Vince Schaefer's three state championship basketball teams,1954-56. Upon graduation, Joe attended Georgia Tech University before returning to Miami and earning a BS in Math with a minor in physics from the University of Miami in 1962, during which time he also married and started his family. To pay his way through college, Joe often talked about the variety of jobs he held, such as delivering phone books to out-of-the-way businesses all over the Southland. Early in Joe's professional career, he worked in the nascent computer programming industry. This led Joe to work for such companies as General Electric who contracted with NASA and for the Apollo Project where he had a front row seat programming during several of the Apollo missions in the late sixties. He also worked for such early software companies as National Cash Register (NCR) and Texas Instruments. Eventually Joe moved his family to Portland, Oregon where he worked as a software engineer for numerous software development companies such as Tektronix, Mentor Graphics, and other start-ups. Joe's interests included photography, reading and history, and the individual and family pursuits and achievements of his extended family members. Before Google existed, whenever anyone in the family wanted to know something, they called Joe. He easily identified when an event had turned into a 'goat rodeo', always figured the 'hassle-factor' cost into transactions, and he encouraged those in his family to succeed through hard work. Joe's legacy to his children and nieces and nephews who he helped mentor throughout their lives was one of citizenship, scholarship, and athletic achievement. This proved out with all three of his children earning their college degrees with scholarships, one National Merit Scholarship and two athletic scholarships.  Joe returned to Miami Senior High School in the 1990s for a reunion with several of his Miami High teammates. In his last decade, Joe and his sweetheart Barbara enjoyed spending time together reading, watching movies, traveling, visiting family, and laughing and enjoying each other's company. They were perfectly matched. Joe was raised in the Southern Baptist church and his favorite song was Amazing Grace. Joe as Dad, Uncle Joe, or Grandpop was a strong presence in the lives of each who knew him. It is hard to believe that a light that burned so brightly was extinguished and those of us in the "just call Dad" generation who needed an obscure question answered feel bad for those in the future who will just have to look their answers up on the computer. Joe's family wishes to thank the Encompass Hospice and Arbor Village staffs for their amazingly kind care of Joe in his last month here with us.