John Barnes Leddy 1922-2012 Obituary

John Barnes (Jack) Leddy passed away in his apartment at Atria Senior Living, San Jose, California on Friday, January 20, only two days before his 90th birthday.  The cause of death was multiple myeloma.  He is survived by his loving wife, Jane, his four children Tom, Bill, Robin and John, his four grandchildren, Anna, Andrew, Giancarlo and Harrison, his brother Don, Don’s wife Nives, and nine nieces and nephews. Jack was born in Pasadena to Harold and Margaret Leddy on Jan. 22, 1922.  In addition to Don, he had two other brothers, Albert and Jim, who predeceased him.  Some of his earliest memories were of tough times in the Great Depression, people selling apples on the street. Since Jack showed an early interest in science his father would take him to science lectures at CalTech.  He remembered seeing Albert Einstein and Guglielmo Marconi give talks there.  His family moved to Bakersfield where he attended high school and junior college.  He received an A.A. in Physics from Bakersfield Junior College.

Jack was an avid radio fan from a very young age.  He had a ham radio license, W6PLJ, and fixed radios as a hobby. In 1938, he and Tom Nelson, along with several other high school friends, organized a high school radio club with the call letters W6EM.  In 1940 Jack was accepted to UC Berkeley and was elected President of Bowles Hall.  In 1941 when Pearl Harbor was attacked he relayed messages to the War Department from Hawaii by way of a station at the top of Bakersfield High School.  Shortly after, he became an ensign (a junior-grade lieutenant) in the Navy and was flown to Boston where we took classes in advanced electronics at both Harvard and MIT.  He was then relocated to Chicago where he worked on installing radar and sonar on submarines and other ships in both the U.S. and British Navies.  Some of the work he did was highly classified. After the war, Jack continued his education at Berkeley.  However, for various reasons, including a serious illness in his senior year, he was unable to finish his B.A.  Nonetheless, he was always proud of studying under several Nobel prize-winners at UC Berkeley. 

In 1948 Jack met and married Jane Winter in Bakersfield and began a career in the electronics field.  They lived first in Oakland, and then in Fresno near the Zoo, but then moved to Darby Village in Clovis, which is just outside Fresno.  There they built their own house following designs from Sunset magazine and with the help of Jim and Albert.  In 1955 the family (including now Tom, Bill and Robin) moved to Eleanor Drive in San Mateo.  John was born while they lived there.  Sometime around 1964 Jack and Jane purchased a cabin at Fly-In-Acres near Arnold, California.  The cabin is now maintained and shared by the four children and their families.  In 1967 the family moved to Parrott Drive also in San Mateo. 

From 1958-1962 Jack was a district manager for General Instrument Corp., from 1962-63 he worked for Jack Logan and Associates, from 1963-64 he was national sales manager for Griffith Plastic Products in Burlingame, and from 1964-68 he was regional manager Western USA for Sperry-Rand Corp, Semiconductor Division. In 1968 Jack founded his own manufacturer’s representative company, Leddy Associates Inc., which was located for the longest period in Burlingame.  In 1990 he sold the business and retired.  However, he continued to work as an independent consultant with an ongoing interest in electronics as well as clean water and clean energy technologies.  In 2000 he founded a new company with his son John, J. Leddy, Inc.  His longest professional association was with RAF Electronic Hardware for over 30 years.  

During this period Jack’s main interests were world travel with Jane (they went to Greece, Mexico, Egypt, Japan, Belize, Chile, England, Alaska, and many other locales), his radio ham contests with the Northern California Contest Club and his work with the American Red Cross in emergency preparedness.  He changed his call letters to N6EM in honor of the Bakersfield radio club (W6EM was no longer available).  Jack had an Honorary Life Membership in the Electronics Representative Association.  He also served as President of the Water Board for Fly-In-Acres. In 2009, Jack and Jane sold their San Mateo house and moved to Atria Senior Living in San Jose. 

Jack and Jane shared many friends in their book club, hiking groups, artist friends of Jane’s, ham radio friends, friends they made while travelling, and friends from their years on Eleanor Drive.

Jack and Jane’s children have distinguished careers and families of their own:   Tom is a Professor of Philosophy at San Jose State University and is married to Karen Haas. Bill is a partner in the architectural firm Leddy Maytum Stacy, is married to Marsha Maytum and has two children, Anna and Andrew.  Robin is an artist in the Sacramento area and is married to Dr. Tom Giustina.  She has one son Giancarlo, married to Rachel Siegel.  John is President of JLeddy Inc. and Co-Founder, along with Jack, of the nonprofit corporation U.S. Water and Power.  He has one son Harrison, and is engaged to marry Ms. Christy Lambertson in June, 2012.

Also significant in Jack’s life were the children of his brothers.  Don’s children are Mary Margaret Leddy, Annette Leddy, Don Leddy and John Leddy.  Albert’s children are Claire Hackett and Richard Leddy (who worked with Jack as an associate).  Jim’s children are Lisa Ray-Leddy, Anthony Leddy, and Valerie Leddy.  

We will all remember Jack for his enthusiasm for life, his love of his family, and his many tall tales.

There will be no funeral.  A memorial event will be held for family members only. If you would like to make a memorial contribution, please contact:  American Red Cross Bay Area Chapter  www.redcrossbayarea.org  

If you would like to share memories about Jack’s life, feel free to comment below or send messages to Tom Leddy at tle403@aol.com