John Leary's Obituary
John Leary, 69, died in the MyeloSuppression Unit at Baptist East at 2 a.m. Sunday morning after a six and one half year battle with Multiple Myeloma.His doctors at the Multiple Myeloma Research Center in Little Rock, Arkansas and at West Clinic in Memphis agreed it was miraculous that he survived this advanced disease for six and one half years. Dr. Pallera said it was his positive attitude and loving family that kept him determined to live.John Leary was born on February 9, 1940 in Gastonia, NC where his father, John Leary, Sr. was a partner in Carolina Cotton Classing. In 1959, John began what would be a 50 year career in the cotton business on Front Street. Beginning as a squidge for Barnwell and Hays, he continued as a cotton merchant and an officer in the company for almost 28 years. Jack Hays, Sr. was his mentor in those early days, and Jack, Jr. and Billy Grehan were his close associates and hunting buddies. He was in charge of domestic sales for Deans and Co. before joining Hurdle Lea and the late Rusty Dyer in Eastern Trading Co. He became vice president, managing the Memphis office of Eastern Trading Co., which was located in Greenville, SC. He enjoyed buying and selling cotton from Texas to the Carolinas with Jordan Lea and Phil Canale. This was a fulfilling business venture for John and he enjoyed these years tremendously. He served as a board member of the Memphis Cotton Exchange and is one of only two men in the history of the Exchange to serve three terms as president. He is a past president of the Southern Cotton Association. He was a board member of the National Cotton Counsel and the American Cotton Shippers Association. The past several years, he has served on the board of the Memphis Cotton Museum and has worked closely with friends Calvin Turley and Danny Lyons in raising funds for this project. In taking the walking tour from the lobby of the Memphis Cotton Exchange, you view Front Street and Cotton Row from the perspective of a cotton trader named John Leary. He was recently honored with a “Celebration of 50 years on Front Street” attended by over a hundred cotton friends and associates. He was hailed as the last true cotton trader on Front Street. A bronze bust of John Leary commemorating his career is planned for the floor of the Cotton Museum. He has a lifetime of wonderful memories made with his family and friends. He enjoyed years of duck hunting especially with his son, Scott, and Scott’s two best friends, Jim Klepper and John Walker. They could reminisce for hours about memories of duck hunting trips and labrador retrievers, and misadventures with four wheelers and canoes. John could light up a room with his grin and rosy cheeks. Friends would ask him to tell the same jokes over and over just to hear him laugh, which was infectious. He was a board member of the Horseshoe Lake Club and enjoyed fishing and skiing there for years. The last few years he especially loved fishing there with his daughter, April, and granddaughter, Sophie. He was an avid tennis player at the Racquet Club of Memphis for years and even when he could no longer play, he loved meeting his tennis group after they had played. He loved his Ole Miss Rebels and tailgating in the Grove. He was thrilled when his son Scott and his family moved to Oxford last fall. Most of all he loved God and his family. He leaves his beloved wife, constant companion, and best friend, Pat Dawkins Leary, his daughter, April, and son, Scott and his wife, Mary. He was known as Papaw to his eight grandchildren, whom he adored. All his grandchildren, Forrest, Mary Haston, Elizabeth, Luke, Sophie, Kolbe and Nate, are competitive swimmers, except for the youngest, two year old Jake. He was also extremely close to his younger brother, David Leary and his wife, Cathy of Greensboro, NC. He also leaves two sisters in Florida, Nan and Effie, and a half sister, Melissa. John was a devout Catholic who lived his life with courage, compassion and humility. He reminded Scott and April that the greatest gift he could ever pass on was his Catholic faith. He was a member of the Church of the Holy Spirit Catholic Church, located on Hickory Crest Drive in Memphis.Visitation will be at the Church of Holy Spirit on Tuesday, August 25 from 6:00 until 8:00. Services will be at the Church of the Holy Spirit Wednesday, August 26 at 11:30.
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