James Joseph Leo

James Joseph Leo, 88

Was U.S. veteran; Fitchburg Hall of Fame inductee

Sentinel & Enterprise

MANASSAS, VA -- James Joseph Leo, 88, of Manassas, VA, formerly of Fitchburg, MA, died Friday, Sept. 9, at Prince William County Hospital, Manassas. Mr. Leo will be inducted into the Fitchburg Hall of Fame on Oct. 9.

He was born in Fitchburg, on Feb. 5, 1917, the son of Joseph and Anna (Maldarella) Leo. He graduated from Fitchburg High School in 1936, where he played football, basketball and baseball, captaining each of these teams at least once. He won an athletic scholarship to Providence College, in Providence, R.I., where he played four sports and received the first Mal Brown Award for excellence in 1939.

Mr. Leo also played semi-professional football and minor league baseball. After graduation from Providence in 1940, he began his first teaching/coaching position at Sacred Heart Academy, Central Falls, RI.

Within days after Pearl Harbor, Mr. Leo’s number was the first to be drawn in the Rhode Island draft lottery and he was inducted into the Army. He served in the South Pacific with the 118th Engineer Company of the 43rd Infantry Division, Corps of Engineers, building landing strips and roads after the Marines had secured the Russell Islands, the Solomon islands, New Hebrides, Guadalcanal, New Georgia, and New Caledonia. He was head of his battalion sports program and also played on U.S. Army football, basketball and baseball teams. He was later air-evacuated to Australia and then New Zealand for medical treatment. He returned to the United States in 1944, and married Mary Smith Hope that July.

Shortly after his final discharge, Mr. Leo accepted a teaching/coaching position at Osbourn High School, Manassas, relocating there in 1945.

Mr. Leo taught and coached a number of winning teams in football, basketball and baseball at Osbourn. He often served as a second father to many of his players and Mrs. Leo graciously became their second mother. He was appointed assistant principal of Osbourn High School in 1953 and completed his masters degree in education from George Washington University in 1954; was principal of Marstellar Junior High School from 1965 to 1975; and was appointed the first Superintendent of Schools for the City of Manassas in 1977. Mr. Leo served in that capacity until his retirement in 1981.

He enjoyed woodworking and gardening. He was a member of Lions, Kiwanis, Knights of Columbus and a past Commander of Francis Cannon Post of VFW.

Mr. Leo is survived by two daughters, Ann Toothman and her husband Dan of Newport News, Va. and M. Robbie Arnold and her husband Richard of Hermitage, PA; three grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, who passed away in November of 1997, and by his parents and siblings.

Funeral services were held in Manassas. Burial with military honors was at Quantico National Cemetery.