Eleanor Frances "Ellie" Davidson Leonard

Eleanor Frances “Ellie” Davidson Leonard

Ellie was born to Robert Johnston Davidson and Mary Rita Harrington and was the middle of three children. Her sister, Mary Ann Davidson Berry and her brother, Daniel Robert Davidson, preceded her in death.

Born in Annapolis, Maryland, Ellie spent her formative years in Scranton, Pennsylvania, before moving to Catonsville, Maryland where she graduated from Catonsville High School in 1965. She followed her sister to Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1969, majoring in Sociology. While there, she was active as an officer in Alpha Omicron Pi Sorority and played intramural sports.

Following graduation, she was employed by Londontown Manufacturing Company in Baltimore as a Sales Correspondent. And in later years, she served as Manager of the Commercial Binding Office, a part of Johns Hopkins University’s, Milton S. Eisenhower Library.   

In June of 1970, she married William O. “Bill” Leonard, Jr., a fellow Washington College alumnus and at the time of her death, their married life had spanned fifty-three years. Together, they raised two children: Anne Elizabeth Leonard of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania and John William Leonard of Jacksonville, Florida. John is the father of two grandchildren, Henry Oliver Leonard and Zoe Elizabeth Leonard. She is further survived by three nephews, four grand nephews and one grand niece.

An avid reader, she was never far from a good book from which she derived countless hours of enjoyment. Ellie practiced her Catholic faith with an active prayer life. While doing so, in her own quiet way, she was an example for all to see and brought Bill to embrace the faith as his own.

While many comment on her smile as being her most endearing trait, she will also be long remembered as having a kind, caring and loving heart, while she was on this Earth with us.