Langdon Lee Leedy1
b. 5 May 1910, d. 1998
| Father | Joseph William Leedy1 b. 6 Mar 1857, d. 27 Jul 1913 |
| Mother | Essie Carter1 b. abt 1880 |
| Birth | 5 May 1910 | Langdon Lee Leedy was born on 5 May 1910 in Springfield, Greene County, Missouri.2 |
| Biog | When Langdon was three years old, his father, Will, died at age fifty three. Essie remarried a railroad man named ? Benjamin, and had another son, Boyd Benjamin. Mr. Benjamin died shortly thereafter, leaving Essie and her two sons in serious financial straits. Langdon had to drop out of high school to get a job in a pencil factory to help family ends meet. Essie then married ? Woodruff, also a railroad man. Mr. Woodruff helped Langdon get a job at the Santa Fe Railroad Station in Springfield, working at the news stand where he sold newspapers, magazines, candy and cigarettes. One day while working at the newsstand, a man stopped him and asked if he was Langdon Leedy. When Langdon affirmed that, the man informed him that he was his cousin, Hunter Booth. Hunter's mother, Ella, had been Joseph William Leedy's sister. This was the first contact Langdon had ever had with his Leedy side of the family. When Hunter returned through the train station, he explained that he was an attorney for Phillips Petroleum Company whose headquarters were in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and that if Langdon were interested, he could arrange for an interview for him. Langdon jumped at the opportunity. Having no skills, nor a high school education, Langdon's first job with Phillips was in the mail room. He was a very hard and dedicated worker, however, and began taking night classes at a business school. He was promoted to the Land Department. There are several notebooks left which show that Langdon, at this time, was teaching himself geology. Basically, the Land Department leased land from farmer's with the purpose of discovering oil. One story that Langdon shared with his children was that he vividly remembered the day that Franklin Roosevelt shut the nation's banks down during the depression, as Langdon was roaming the countryside with suitcases full of cash to offer farmers for an oil lease on their property. Langdon was next promoted to assistant to the director of Foreign Lands Department. This job required him to travel to such countries as Venezuela, Columbia, Nicaragua, and Kuwait where he negotiated land lease deals for Phillips Petroleum to search for oil. The 1950's brought The Cold War, and with it the build up of nuclear weapons. The United States had several nuclear reactor testing stations in unpopulated areas, one of which was the desert outside of Idaho Falls, Idaho. While they had Army and Navy facilities there, the federal government left the major operating contract for bidding among private companies. Phillips Petroleum won that contract, and Langdon was offered the position of administration manager. In 1953, Langdon took his family to live in Idaho Falls, Idaho for the rest of his career which ended in 1970.1 | |
| Marriage | 1934 | He married Marjorie Maxine Jewell in 1934.1 |
| Widowed | 1990 | Langdon was widowed when Marjorie died in 1990.1 |
| Marriage | 1991 | He married Eleanor (McBride) Fuson in 1991.1 |
| Widowed | 1997 | He was widowed for a second time when Eleanor died in 1997.1 |
| Death | 1998 | Langdon died in 1998 in Idaho Falls, Bonneville County, Idaho.1 |
| Charts | Descendants of John Maiden and Susanna Landis |
| Last Edited | 7 Jun 2010 |