William Raymond "Bill" Leary

William Raymond Leary (Bill), 79, a servant of his LORD, peacefully crossed into eternal glory at 11:36 am on Sunday, June 28. He was a native of New Orleans and a resident of Houma. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Kathleen Holmes Leary, son Sean Leary, daughters Katy Vinci (Michael) and Genevieve Leary, grandchildren Sarah and Joshua Leary, Kaffey and William Vinci, and sister Sharon Morris. He was preceded in death by his parents, John Raymond and Ernestine Faidy Leary, grandson Benjamin Leary, sister Patricia Godfrey, and brother in law James Morris. Bill attended Jesuit High School, LSU, and Loyola Law School. He served his country in the Vietnam War. He established a law practice and an appraisal business in Terrebonne Parish. Along with devotion to his beloved wife, children, and grandchildren, Bill's SOUL purpose in this life was to aid other souls in finding help and recovery in freedom from the grips of the disease of alcoholism and drug addiction. He himself had been sober and in recovery from this disease one day at a time for 42 years. He spent many years of his life being able to do this ministry not only outside of work as a practicing lawyer but in his job as the Executive Director of the Lawyers Assistance Program for Louisiana, which he and his dearest friend Edwin Blewer started 32 years ago. He also supported many other programs for impaired lawyers in other states through CoLAP (Commission on Lawyers Assistance Program). One of the highlights of his life is to have received the first Edwin L. Blewer, Jr. Memorial Award at the Louisiana State Bar Annual Conference. Bill battled emphysema and COPD for the last several years of his life. He was a fighter and resilient. His beloved wife Kathleen enabled him to have quality of life by her constant love and care. Bill's words to the nurse when asked how he felt about this time as he was transitioning were, "My God is doing for me what I can't do for myself." "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well." ~Julian of Norwich~ The family wishes to thank Dr. Russell Henry and the staff at Terrebonne General Medical Center who provided excellent care during this difficult time. There will be no service at this time. There will be a memorial service at a later date. Bill's wishes were to have his body donated to science for further research regarding the progressive disease of alcoholism. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Bridge House, 4150 Earhart Blvd. 70125; www.bridgehouse.org.