George Leech passed away peacefully in his home in Pinetop, Arizona on Aug. 12.
George graduated from the University of Arizona with a master's in forestry and went on to work for the Bureau of Indian Affairs for more than 30 years. During his time with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, George helped move the tribal fire program toward a more professional, highly trained, nationally deployable wildland fire organization with a strong emphasis on incident management, rapid initial attack, fire behavior and firefighter safety. He was both the training officer, trainer and the incident management officer, and he was fire behavior qualified. He played a major role in some of Arizona’s most significant fires, such as the Rodeo–Chediski and Rainbow fires.
When not working, he loved spending time with his wife, Patti, who preceded him in death in 2010. After his retirement, George continued to serve his community as a Pinetop fire commissioner and as an advisor to the fire service. He devoted his time to search and rescue and to traveling the world. He also enjoyed fellowship with his sister, Margaret, and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.
His family, friends, coworkers and former students are invited to join us in a memorial service and time of fellowship at the Hon-Dah Resort Casino, Mt. Baldy room, on Nov. 7 at 2 p.m. The service will be available via live-stream. If possible, please RSVP by emailing memorial@georgeleech.com or texting (928) 940-1223 with your name and phone number.
