Richard grew up in Compton, CA.  His parents were Vae and Robert McLeod.  He joined the Navy in 1950 and served on the Kearsarge (an aircraft carrier) as a firefighter.  After serving four years, he went to work for Mobil Oil Refinery in Torrance, CA.  He followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather.  He met the love of his life shortly after beginning his career at Mobil in June of 1954.  Barbara and Richard were married on December 9, 1954.  They bought their first home in Lakewood, CA, where they raised their two daughters, Terri and Jeanna. The family were all baptized at West Lakewood Baptist Church.  After retiring in 1989, Barbara and Richard moved to Sonora, CA.  They attended Sierra Bible Church.  Richard enjoyed volunteering for the Community Service Unit of Tuolumne Sheriff's Department.  In 2011, Barbara and Richard moved to Kingman, AZ, where they both volunteered at Kingman Regional Medical Center. 


On January 16, 2014, Richard found out that he had widespread cancer that infiltrated most all of his organs.  Praise God that he had not experienced any pain or adverse symptoms prior to being diagnosed and even after being diagnosed.  The most amazing gift God gave him was no pain until the last week of his life.  After a short period of time (5 weeks), he succombed to the disease.  Richard stepped into heaven holding the hand of Jesus at 7:30 a.m. on February 19, 2014.


Barbara says:

"Thank you Lord for this wonderful man who loved me so much for 59 years." 


He leaves behind his two daughters, Terri and Jeanna, three grandchildren, Bryon, Barbara, and Austin, and four great grandchildren.