Leonard Eldon Huber

Leonard Eldon Huber, Marine fighter pilot, rodeo rider, banker, tennis player and beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend, flew his last flight to his maker on Oct. 7, 2022 at 91 years of age. He lived a full and adventurous life, leaving in his wake, the world a better place. He was a gentleman and a gentle man, and a proven leader. Friends saw him as a role model in many ways, especially on how to age with grace and vitality. Generosity was important to him and throughout his life he shared his life's blessings with family and many friends, never wanting anyone to be in need.

Born in Dallas on July 2, 1931 to Lovell Huber and Lorine Huber (Orem), his was a Depression-era family -- poor but not impoverished. His sister, Peggy, was born a year later. Neither parent had completed high school and they were determined to educate their children, opening a savings account for Leonard in December of 1931. As a wartime youngster, he used to lie on the roof trying to identify the different military planes flying overhead, initiating his interest in the military. Attending Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas, he enrolled in the ROTC and joined its precision drill team.

Work was a part of Leonard's DNA from an early age. His first enterprise began as a pre-teen, collecting scrap paper, for which he was paid sixty cents per hundred-weight. He threw a paper route. He worked at the neighborhood A&P Grocery. At age 13, with the war ending, his uncle found him a source for the first fireworks available since the war started, and building a roadside stand, Leonard cleared enough cash to buy his first car, a '37 Ford. (Lots of stories about the escapades with that car.) He continued working throughout college at numerous jobs - pumping gas, driving a tractor for the owner of the then Scofield Ranch (now north Austin subdivisions), at that Texas Memorial Museum on the University of Texas Campus and during summers for his father's paint contracting business. Leonard's savings account provided him $1000 for his college education. He earned the rest to fund his education. And he continued to work, succeed, and earn for the rest of his life.

Attending The University of Texas in Austin and graduating in 1952 with a degree in Business Administration, he divided his time between classes, working, the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity and the Navy ROTC, becoming a member of that organization's crack drill team, the Buccaneers. Upon graduation, he elected to take his commission with the United State Marine Corps.

During college, though, there was little time for anything else, but never one to loaf and encouraged by his brother-in-law, Leonard started Brahman bull riding in small town rodeos during his summers. He moved on to riding with the UT Rodeo Club, a pastime that ended badly when he was talked into trying to ride a bareback bronc rather than a bull. He was thrown and fractured numerous vertebrae. This injury resulted in a hospital stay in a full-body plaster cast for several months and a grueling rehab. During this time, Leonard was introduced to Patricia Alexander who would become his wife.

Following his graduation and marriage in 1952 and after extensive and very successful rehab, Leonard made up his injury-delayed midshipman's cruise at Quantico, VA, performing near the top of his class. After a brief hassle regarding his back injury and a lot of luck, he was cleared for flight training. Over the next five years, Leonard completed his active-duty commitment as a Marine pilot of FJ-2 swept-wing jet fighters, becoming carrier qualified. He ultimately finished his tour as a flight instructor at Chase Field in Beeville, Texas with the rank of Captain. He continued to fly in the active reserves for another five years, attaining the rank of Major.

Leonard and his wife Patti, moved 17 times during his years as an active Marine and had two children, Wayne and Cynthia. He elected to end his active military career in order to stay home and have more time with his family, returning to Dallas. Over the next 27 years, they raised Wayne to become a successful management and technology consultant. Wayne married Linda Fra and adopted her son, Brian. Cynthia was raised to be a gifted and talented mother who married James Wells, with whom she had two sons, Alex and Austin, and raised them along with James' son, Aaron.

Professionally, in Dallas, Leonard took a position in the Trust Department of First National Bank of Dallas. Over the next two and a half decades, he moved upward through the ranks of that operation becoming Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer of First International Bancshares (which became InterFirst Corporation), and ultimately serving as CEO of the three InterFirst San Antonio banks. Leonard flourished in this leadership role, propelling the banks he served to new levels of success.

After leaving InterFirst, Leonard was chosen by the Federal Home Loans Bank to oversee the workout of ailing thrifts in San Angelo and Dallas, an engagement leading to his hiring by Robert Dedman, Sr. to turn around the floundering Franklin Savings in Austin; Leonard did, and the bank was sold for a substantial profit in just 2-1/2 years.

In addition to banking, Leonard served as an important civic leader in Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin during his tenures there. Examples of his former community leadership roles include Lecturer and Course Coordinator at the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at SMU; University of Texas at Arlington, President of College of Business Advisory Council; School of Banking of the South, LSU, Course Coordinator; Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and Air Force Community Council; Military Affairs Council of San Antonio; Royal Oaks Country Club, Dallas, Past President; Former member of the Argyle Club, San Antonio; United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County, past Chairman and member of the Executive Committee; President of the San Antonio Symphony; The University of Texas at Austin College of Business, Advisory Committee and Century Club. He also served on the Travis County Texas Bond Advisory Committee and as a Commissioner for Travis County Emergency Services District 8. Leonard was people person and always in demand for fundraising and promoting good organizations.

According to Leonard, the most important aspect of his Austin/Franklin gig was meeting Karen Hamilton Abbott in 1994. Marrying in 1998, they built their home in the Hill Country west of Austin, which they enjoyed with their German Shorthaired Pointers, Ami, Jag, and Cookie. They traveled the world together with family and friends, visiting Africa, Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, North/Central/South America, the Caribbean, and Hawaii. Leonard was also an avid tennis player and enjoyed playing at World of Tennis in Lakeway, and Wednesday lunches with the tennis gang for the last 25 years. Leonard and Karen remained devoted to one another, building together a lasting and growing circle of friends and associates, as well as a focal point for their respective Huber and Hamilton family clans. Leonard also enjoyed spending time and having great conversations on the deck with his brother-in-law Berry Hamilton, grandsons, Alex and Austin and wife Abby, and Karen's son, Luke. Special thanks to Karen's brother Berry, who made it possible for them to remain in their home during Leonard's last years.

Awaiting on this earth to join him in the future are his wife, Karen; his son Wayne and wife Linda; daughter Cindy Wells and husband James; grandsons Brian Huber, Aaron Wells and wife Caren, Alex Wells, Austin Wells and wife Abby; great grandson Nicolas Wells; an extended family of siblings, cousins, nieces and nephews, and many friends. He was proceeded in death by his mother, Lorine Orem, and father, Lovell Huber, and his beloved sister, Peggy Hill.

A Celebration of Leonard's life will be held Sunday, November 13, at 3 p.m. at Star Hill Ranch, 15000 Hamilton Pool Rd., Bee Cave TX 78738. Leonard would want anyone wishing to make a memorial contribution to consider The American Cancer Society or the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Diseases at UT Health San Antonio or a charity of choice.