Harold Arthur Leader

Longtime Wasilla resident Harold Arthur Leader, 89, died Oct. 6, 2012, at the Alaska Veterans and Pioneers Home in Palmer.

Private family services were at Valley Funeral Home in Wasilla. Harold was laid to rest with full military honors at Fort Richardson National Cemetery with his wife, Jean.

Harold was born April 22, 1923, to Fred and Mary (Zingleman) Leader in Shepherd, Mont. He was a 1941 graduate of Shepherd High School and attended Billings Business College in Billings, Mont. He worked for the U.S. Forest Service in Idaho and as an apprentice electrician in Spokane, Wash. Harold married Jean M. Munyan in Spokane on Sept. 26, 1942. They had two children: Donna M. Warner, born in 1943, and Gregory S. Leader, born in 1952.

Harold entered the U.S. Army in Butte, Mont., March 4, 1943, and took his basic training at camp Kohler in Sacramento, Calif., and then to New Jersey for cryptography schooling. He was assigned to the 79th JNF Development. In March 1944, the 79th was shipped to England. The development landed on Normandy (D+2). Harold was wounded in France in November 1944. He spent four months in various hospitals, finally winding up at a U.S. hospital in Oxford, England. In April 1945, he was released from the hospital and returned to his unit. After serving with the U.S. Army during summer 1945 and having spent several months in Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, he returned to the U.S. and was discharged Oct. 9, 1945. Among other commendations, he received the European Theater Award with four battle stars.

Working in the construction trade before he came to Alaska, Harold helped construct several radar sites along the U.S.-Canada border. Harold and his family spent the summer of 1952 in Ketchikan before moving to Anchorage in 1953. He was employed by M.B. Construction Co. from 1953 to 1986. In 1960, he helped supervise the beginning of the Ballistic Missile Early Warning Site at Clear. After his retirement in 1986, Jean and Harold moved to the Valley.

Harold was a member of the Pioneers of Alaska, Igloo 31; life member of VFW; life member of the Division Am Vets; and member of the National Rifle Association.

Preceding him in death was his wife of 68 years, Jean M. Leader; parents, Fred and Mary Leader; sister, Luella; and brothers, Orville, Arthur, Everett, Carl and Norman.

Surviving are his son and daughter-in-law, Gregory S. and Cally Leader of Wasilla; daughter and son-in-law, Donna M. and David Warner of Oregon; grandchildren, Jerry, Gary, Larry and Lonny Whittle, Justin Leader and Jessica McDonnell; great-grandchildren, Andrew, Donna, Anthony, Brian and Jerry “J.D.” Whittle, Alisha, Nikoli, Lilliana, Danielle Leader, and Aidan and Kian McDonnell; great-great-grandchild, Jeremy Whittle; and brother, Helmuth Leader of Billings, Mont.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Harold’s name to the Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Agency of Alaska, 1750 Abbott Road, Anchorage, AK 99507.

Arrangements were by Valley Funeral Home. An obituary and guestbook are online at AlaskanFuneral.com.