ROCKLAND - Clarence Leonard Jr, 94, passed away peacefully in the company of his family on September 11, 2017.

He was born in Union, Maine on August 26th, 1923 and was the son of Clarence Leonard Sr and Ariel Ames Leonard. He graduated from Union High School in 1941. After graduation he worked as a welder at the shipyard in South Portland.

In 1942 he enlisted in the US Army Air Corps, where he became a radio operator on a B-24 bomber. During his time in the Army Air Corps, he flew 30 missions over Europe during World War II. He received the Air Medal with Three-Oak Leaf cluster and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He flew on the first day-light flight over Berlin as well as the Normandy Invasion. He was honorably discharged in 1945.

After the WW II, he attended Kents Hill Preparatory School and in September 1946, enrolled at the University of Maine in which he graduated in 1950 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education. Clarence went on to earn a Master's Degree in Education in 1974. On August 20, 1950, he married Barbara Koster of Rockland. After their marriage, Clarence and Barbara taught in a one room school house in Weld, Maine.

He went on to teach mathematics at Weld High School and eventually became the assistant principal, athletic director, basketball and baseball coach of Erskine Academy. After few years later he returned back to Midcoast Maine as a teacher and baseball coach at Rockport High School. Eventually he found his professional home at Georges Valley High School, where he became a beloved teacher, coach, and sports official of multiple sports until he retired at the end of the school year in 1988. During summers, he could be found assisting with the local blueberry harvests in the Union area. He continued to be a basketball referee and baseball umpire for over 35 years in total. Additionally, Clarence worked after his retirement from teaching for over ten years as janitor of the Congregational Church in Rockland. He was also a 32nd degree Mason. In his retirement years, Clarence was able to take part in activities he enjoyed with friends such as golfing, ballroom dancing, and eating out at his favorite local restaurants.

He is predeceased by his parents, his wife, Barbara Koster Leonard, and three brothers Howard, Henry, and Robert. He is survived by his youngest brother Paul, his wife Jessie, and their family from Newport; two sisters- in-law, Lucille Reisner of Reading, MA, Ruth Leonard and her family of Union; his five children, Eileen of Warren, William of Reading, MA, James of Pittsfield, Kathryn of Bridgton, Thomas of Bangor; four grandchildren, Alexander Bullens of Saco, Seth Bullens of Indianola, Iowa, Mackenzie Leonard of Farmington, and Jackson Leonard of Pittsfield, as well as his great-granddaughter, Charlotte Ann Bullens of Indianola, Iowa, and his great-grandsons Jacob and Sam Bullens of Saco and several nieces and nephews.

At Clarence's request, funeral arrangements will be private. Interment will be at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Augusta, Maine and arrangements will be made through Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home in Rockland.

At Clarence's request, he would like donations to be made in his wife's memory to the American Lung Association of Maine, 122 State Street, Augusta, ME 04330.