Roy Leonard

On August 13, 2025, Roy Leonard of Loveland passed away, spending his final hours surrounded by the love of his family. Roy was born on May 21, 1944, in Longmont, CO. He was raised on a farm just south of Berthoud with sweeping views of Longs Peak and the Front Range, inspiring a lifelong love of Colorado and the Rocky Mountains. He graduated from Berthoud High School and went on to earn a degree in Speech and Theatre from Southern Colorado State College in Pueblo.

Roy married his college sweetheart, Kathy, in 1967. After moving to Kansas City, KS for a few years, the call of the mountains led them back to Colorado, where they settled in Loveland and raised their family. Roy began and ended his career as an educator of Theatre and Speech and was highly respected and loved by his students. In between, he and Kathy owned and operated Open Book, an independent bookstore with locations in Longmont and Loveland.

Roy's love of the outdoors led him to summit several of Colorado's 14ers, including multiple ascents of his beloved Longs Peak. He spent several summers doing volunteer trail maintenance on different legs of the Colorado Trail and dedicated countless hours of service in Rocky Mountain National Park. After retirement, he earned his Master Gardener certification through CSU and shared his knowledge by mentoring at-risk youth through the Loveland Youth Gardeners program. He was also an avid music lover and, quite possibly, Bob Dylan's biggest fan.

He is survived by his wife, Kathy (Vancil) Leonard; daughter, Ann (Leonard) Depew; grandsons Liam and Nate Depew; sister-in-law Genie Mjelde (Larry); and stepbrother Terry Carroll. He was preceded in death by his parents, Willard and Mary Leonard; his son, Jon W. Leonard; and siblings Kay Owens and John Leonard.

A memorial will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 13, at the Rialto Theatre's Devereaux/Hach Room, 228 E. 4th St., Loveland. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Rocky Mountain Conservancy in support of Rocky Mountain National Park at rmconservancy.org.