Richard S. Leonard's Obituary
Richard Leonard was born in March of 1941 during WWII, and spent the beginning of his life in Washington D.C. where his father worked as a civilian in the Pentagon. After the war, his family moved to Pleasantville, N.Y., where he lived until age 16. His family then moved to DeWitt, N.Y., where he graduated from high school. Richard spent his first year of college at RPI in upstate New York studying hard sciences, next transferring to Syracuse University where he received his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry. Upon graduation, Richard made the move to New York City, where he worked in retail for Macy’s and then Martin’s Department store in downtown Brooklyn, where he met his beloved wife Tobey, who worked in fashion. After six months of courtship, they became engaged and were married in Central Synagogue on July 11th, 1965. They welcomed a daughter, Cindi in 1971, and then moved to suburban Parsippany, New Jersey. Richard worked his way up in the cosmetic industry, holding various positions at Faberge and Guerlain, both in New York City, including that of National Sales Manager. In 1986, Richard and Tobey made the move to South Florida, where he became the National Sales Manager at Prestige Cosmetics in Deerfield Beach. As the company grew, Richard transitioned back to the chemistry lab and became one of the premier cosmetic chemists in the country. Prestige became Oxygen Development, where he worked in different capacities for a total of 34 years, transitioning from sales to creating chemical formulas/products and supervising FDA regulations in the U.S. and abroad. He retired right before Coronavirus changed the US and world in March of 2020. Richard was a hardworking man, respected both in his industry and by those who worked with him and that he mentored. He is survived by his wife of 58 years and their daughter, both of whom he took care of and adored. He was laid to rest at Eternal Light Memorial Gardens in West Boynton, Florida on March 25th, 2024. Richard Leonard was 83 years old, an honorable and devoted husband and father who made the world a better place just by being in it. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions in Richard's honor be made to Jewish National Fund-Plant a Tree (www.jnf.org)
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