Richard Leonard

I lived above the player piano shop during my studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music at Ortega Street it was between 1974-1978 (?) I think. Cellist that I am, Richard Leonard took me on to renovate his excellent stock of player pianos. Upon graduation I was awarded a scholarship to study in Geneva Switzerland and have made my name here starting in 1978. My years as apprentice and friend of Richard have always been important for me. Now, and here in Geneva those years seem a dream...

Not a week goes by when I am not thinking of my buddie Dick Leonard. Life was so nice knowing Dick & his wife Eva were always doing something interesting & fun. Although he was getting up there and years he didn't seem to be old. I loved his outlook on life. As someone else put it, he was just pleasant to be around. They did throw away the mold. There was only one "Dicky" Leonard. He is still so missed. I hope Eva and Andrew are doing well.

I was going through our old business card collection and come across "Leonard's Player Pianos". Wondering what he was up to these days I did a Google search turned up the sad news of his passing. We just wanted to comment on our delightful experience with him years ago. Dick installed a player system in our new Kawai back in 2007. He was so pleasant to be around for the 2 days he was in our home, and also when we called to ask for technical help with the system. Although our meeting was...

The 1st time I met Dick Leonard was while I was looking for player piano rolls back in the late 70s. Leonard's Player Pianos was one of a hand-full of paper-roll player piano shops in the entire Bay Area.


The thing that made Dick Leonard stand out is what we all loved about him, compassion, integrity, determination & sense of humor. Dick was loyal to a fault and the words that he spoke rang with the sound of truth. He was about doing what he thought was right, while all the...

Goodbye Dick,
I have been away and I am sorry I didn't get to meet you wife and son. I had no idea you were sick. I will miss you. I want to thank you again for the use of a variety of your putters. They help my putting for a short time but as you know it's not the putters that's the problem. I always enjoyed our playing golf and poker. You are going to be missed dearly. I want to thank you for being a good friend. I look forward to sitting on your bench and chatting with you as I play...

Eva and Andrew: So nice to see you both at the dedication of Dick's new memorial bench on the fifth tee box at Auburn Valley Golf Course. It was my pleasure to have known and played golf with Dick for 20+ years. Dick was a very special friend and a great friend to all the members. He was a delight to be around and he was a wonderful influence on the rest of us on living a better life. I will miss him, however, I will sit on his new bench on the 5th tee box and tell how much he is missed...

Eva,
Our thoughts and prayers are with you , Andrew and the Leonard family. So many wonderful memories of our days on Irving st. Dick was a wonderful man and will live on in our memories.