Eugene F. Leitten

1927 - 2025

Leitten,

Eugene F.

Jul 15, 1927 - Mar 22, 2025

Age 97. Cherished husband for 63 years of the late Joan (nee Didley) Leitten; beloved father of the late Mark Leitten; predeceased by nine brothers. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 10 AM on Saturday, April 12 at Our Lady of Peace Church, 10950 Main Street, Clarence. Interment to follow at Mount Calvary Cemetery. Euge was the youngest of 10 brothers born to Charles and Rose (Gaulocher) Leitten. He graduated in 1944 from Arcade Central School where he was recognized for "best dimples," "most intelligent" and "most likely to succeed." At 17 he enlisted in the Merchant Marines. Serving later in the Army, he earned two bronze stars as a medic in Korea. A graduate of RIT thanks to the GI Bill, he realized his life's ambition to become a research chemist, working at FMC. On July 23, 1955 he married Buffalo school teacher Joan Didley. Theirs was a spirited and deeply bonded marriage of equals devoted to each other and to their son and only child, Mark. Born in 1958, Mark was profoundly intellectually disabled and non-verbal; his smile and gentle nature lit up a room. His birth became the defining event of their remarkable lives of passion, purpose and joy. Joan and Euge joined with other parents of handicapped children to find, or create, services for their children. They were founding members of the parents' group that established SOS summer camp in Clarence, one of the first ever formed for children with disabilities. Euge's career decisions were based on Mark's needs. At home he invented many adaptive devices, including a go-cart and customized gate latches, so that Mark, who was prone to seizures, could freely roam their wooded back yard in Clarence. At age 11, Mark went to live during the week at the West Seneca Developmental Center where he received the first educational program he had ever experienced. In 1998, Mark benefitted from the revolutionary changes his parents had fought for as he became a resident of a wonderful group home. Weekends and holidays for Mark's entire life, Joan and Euge brought him home. As Euge said: "Mark is our joy." Euge shared Joan's love of opera and travel, and their trips to foreign lands provided respite and lively stories for the family. When Joan died in 2018, Euge intrepidly carried forward with Mark's visits home, with support from his Hormell cousins who loved Mark as a brother. Weeks before his death in August 2024, Mark was able to join his cousins in celebrating his father's 97th birthday. Euge was a towering and vibrant personality, fun-loving, intellectually curious, fiercely opinionated and - in his later years - unfettered in expressing appreciation and love for those who cared for him, including his nieces and nephews and his dear friend Mary Lafferty. He was forever proud of the extended Leitten clan and their many accomplishments. His legacy as a magnificent father and devoted husband lives on in all who knew and loved him. Arrangements by AMIGONE FUNERAL HOME, INC., (716) 836-6500. Share condolences at www.AMIGONE.com.