Eason Harris Leonard 83, a founding partner of the Manhattan architectural firm I.M. Pei & Partners, died of pneumonia November 12, 2003, at Hospice House in Monterey.
Among Mr. Leonard's various memberships, he was a fellow of the American Institute of Architects and a corporate member of the Royal Institute of British Institute of Architects.
Among the firm's numerous major projects, he was instrumental in constructing the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the John Hancock Tower in Boston, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong and the expansion and modernization of the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Mr. Leonard was born June 5, 1920, in El Reno, Oklahoma. His family moved to Chickasha, his parents were Mr. & Mrs. C. V. Leonard who established the Bake-Rite Bakery. Leonard attended and graduated from Chickasha High School in 1940 and he attended OSU.
In 1989 he was honored by Oklahoma State University's School of Architecture with the first endowed professorship.
When he retired to Carmel in 1990, he lectured, produced a video about the Louvre and served as trustee and president of the board of the Monterey Museum of Art.