John Robert Leekley

John Robert Leekley, owner of Cedar Farm Percherons in Gladwin, Michigan, former Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Masco Corporation, of Livonia, Michigan, and a passionate outdoorsman, died on Thursday, September 17, 2020 of cancer. He was 77. John grew up in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. He graduated from St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia, and magna cum laude from Boston College in 1965. After receiving his LL.B degree from Columbia law School in 1968 he worked for law firms on Wall Street until he joined the legal team at Masco in 1978, where he remained until his retirement in 2008. John developed the reputation at Masco of being among the best acquisition lawyers in the country. He was no less expert in managing all the legal matters confronting a Corporate Counsel of a fast growing, profitable industrial corporation. During his years with Masco his first wife, Karen Meyers Leekley, died after a long illness, and Gerry Gildner Leekley, his second wife, died several years following his retirement, again following a long illness.

Mr. Leekley was an avid hunter and fisherman. For many years he owned a vacation cabin on Klotz Lake, in northern Ontario, but his real love was his home in Gladwin. Beginning with three horses, he developed Cedar Farm Percherons into a stable that produced numerous champions, including the North American Championship Six Horse Draft Hitch in 1998, which sold for a then record price at the following year’s Columbus, Ohio, Draft Horse Sale. In connection with his interest in breeding and raising Percherons he served for a number of years as Director and Vice President of the Michigan Draft Horse Breeders Association and as a Director and Treasurer of the Michigan Great Lakes International Draft Horse Show, the largest annual draft horse exposition in North America. No one who saw him at a state fair wearing plaid shirts, boots, and a cowboy hat would have recognized that he was a dynamic and highly respected corporate lawyer, but he put more than 100 per cent into everything he did.

Over the years the farm hosted deer and bird hunting for his family and many friends, and in recent years the Michigan Region of the National Shoot to Retrieve pointing dog field trials. He loved good wine, cognac, dogs, his many friends, long summer evenings in Michigan, and his family--not necessarily in that order. In recent years he and his wife, Amanda Baker Leekley, have divided their time between Michigan and Marco Island and Naples, Florida. He is survived by his wife, son John Thomas Leekley (Silvia) of Alpharetta, Georgia, two grandchildren Amanda and Thomas, his sister Dorothy Leekley Clarke (Joseph) of Yonkers, New York, nephews Brendan and Conor, stepchildren Lindsey Gildner Hannah, Lee Gildner and Dale Gildner, and a number of English setters, all of whom will miss him terribly.

A memorial service will be planned for the spring of 2021. Information can be obtained from seacomarco@aol.com and donations in his memory can be made to “Scholarship and Financial Aid,” St. Joseph’s Preparatory School, 1733 W. Gerard Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19130.

Arrangements were handled by Steuernol & McLaren Funeral Home in West Branch. Online condolences can be shared at www.steuernolmclaren.com