Staff Sgt. Jonathan R. Leonard

A Military Honors Service will be held on Saturday, June 9, 2007 at 1:00 p.m. at the Island City Cemetery for Staff Sgt. Jonathan Leonard, United States Air Force Reserve, who died on November 22, 1996 when he was killed with nine other Airmen aboard the HC-130 cargo aircraft, call sign King 56, crashed in the Pacific Ocean forty miles out from Cape Mendocino, California. A black granite marble memorial to the crew who died in the crash was placed at Willamette National Cemetery last year.

Sgt. Leonard was born on April 11, 1949, the son of Walter and Norma (Warnock) Leonard in New York. He was raised in La Grande and graduated from La Grande High School with the class of 1967. He enlisted in the United States Air Force and served in Vietnam for three years. He later joined the reserves serving with the 304th Rescue Squadron as an Intelligence Operations Specialist. In his civilian life he worked for Mark Advertising.

Survivors include his mother, Norma Dewey of Homedale, Idaho; siblings, Mary Osterloh of La Grande, David Leonard of Beaverton, Robert Leonard of Hillsboro, Pricilla Croner of Boise, Idaho, Patty Comstock of Vale, Oregon and Gordon Leonard of Valencia, California; numerous nieces and nephews and other relatives and friends. Arrangements are entrusted to Daniels Chapel of the Valley.

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