Dr. Leonard Carl Douglas, 77, was born Jan. 19, 1928, in Alton, Mo., to the late Clifton Taylor Douglas and Fay (Wallace) Douglas. He passed away Thursday, April 28, 2005, in St. John’s Hospital, Springfield.
Leonard and Elda Faye Sell were united in marriage on March 5, 1950, in Ava. They spent 55 wonderful years working together and most of all being each other’s best friend.
Leonard began work with Missouri Cooperative Extension in 1949. He served in field positions, ranging from assistant county Extension agent to Extension district director until 1967, when he was appointed assistant dean of Extension, University of Missouri-Columbia.
In 1968, Leonard became associate dean of Extension, serving in that capacity until 1975 when he was appointed dean of Extension. The University of Missouri-Columbia changed that title to vice provost of Extension in 1979. He became acting director of Cooperative Extension in 1979, and was appointed director the following year, while also retaining his position as vice provost.
His University of Missouri service was interrupted twice for positions in private businesses and for study at Cornell University, where he earned a doctorate degree in education administration in 1966.
A native of Oregon County, Leonard holds two degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia: a bachelor of science in agriculture and a master of science in Extension education. After his retirement from the University of Missouri in 1985, Leonard and Elda moved to their farm in Christian County to raise alfalfa hay.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
Leonard is survived by his loving wife, Elda; one son, Chris Douglas and wife, Georgia, of Sparta; one daughter, Cindy Fehlauer and husband, Don, of Fort Atkinson, Wisc.; grandchildren Travis and Heather Douglas of Lee’s Summit, Gene and Jackie Douglas of Springfield, Christina Douglas of Aurora, Colo., Melissa and Matt Eberhardt of Oakcreek, Wisc., and Alicia Fehlauer and her fiance, Dustin Smith, of Roscoe, Ill.; great-grandchildren, Elle and Ross Douglas, of Springfield, and Jackson Douglas of Lee’s Summit; numerous other loving relatives and a host of friends.
Leonard was a man of strong Christian faith and served faithfully in leadership roles in the congregations and organizations he and Elda were part of: eight years as the Fairview United Methodist Church, Columbia, church council chair; 15 years as the Ozark United Methodist Church, Ozark, church council Chair; eight years as Christian County Farm Bureau president; and 27 years as a member of the board of trustees of the Missouri 4-H Foundation.
Funeral services were held on Monday, May 2, at 10 a.m. in Barnes Family Funeral Home, Ozark. Burial followed in the Ava Cemetery.
The Douglas family requests memorial donations in lieu of flowers to the Ozark United Methodist Church Building Fund, in the name of Dr. Leonard C. Douglas, C/O Barnes Family Funeral Home, PO Box 796, Ozark, Missouri 65721.
