Retiring fire chief: 'It's been a great ride'

Tarpon Springs officials praise Harry Leonard, who announced he'll leave July 31 after 28 years with the fire department.

By KATHERINE GAZELLA, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published June 22, 2002

TARPON SPRINGS -- Harry Leonard was 22 and uncertain about what to do with his life when he passed by the city fire station in 1974.

Al Carr, then an assistant fire chief and later the fire chief, talked to the young man.

They knew each other from an incident several years before, when Carr was a police officer who gave Leonard a speeding ticket. In spite of that inauspicious meeting, Carr thought Leonard should try his hand at fighting fires.

"He said, 'We've got an opening. Why don't you fill out an application?"' Leonard recalled. "I was fresh off the street. Didn't know a thing about it."

Through the years, Leonard moved up through the ranks until he became chief of the department in 1994. This week, he announced he will retire July 31 after 28 years with the department.

"It was the greatest thing that ever happened to me," Leonard said of becoming a firefighter. "It's been a great ride."

Leonard, 50, leaves a job in which he earns about $67,600 a year. After making the announcement this week, he earned praise from his colleagues and city officials.

"I think he should stay a couple more years," said Dan Carter, a driver and EMT. "We were surprised. We didn't think he was even entertaining the idea."

"I'm sure he's going to enjoy his golfing," Lt. Rick Letz said with a laugh.

Both said Deputy Chief Kevin Bowman would be a good replacement for Leonard. But he won't automatically get the job. City Manager Ellen Posivach said she will advertise for a new fire chief, "but I'm going to very strongly encourage in-house candidates."

A new chief could be in place in three to four months, she said.

When Leonard's retirement was announced Tuesday at a City Commission meeting, Mayor Frank DiDonato joked that Leonard wouldn't be allowed to leave.

"I think we have the option of not accepting," DiDonato said. "Sorry, Harry."

"I look at this as a happy and a sad occasion," Commissioner David Archie said. "All of us I know will truly miss you."

"I've truly enjoyed ... watching the fire department growing to where it is today," Commissioner Karen Brayboy said.

In his time with the department, Leonard helped to oversee the move from a cramped fire station to the Public Safety Facility, which now houses the police and fire departments.

He also has been involved in community groups and activities, such as helping to build soccer and football fields at the city's sports complex and working on the addition of two Little League fields at Sisler Field. One of the Little League fields is named after him, as is an activities room at the Boys and Girls Club.

"He's worked as hard for the community as he did for the city," Fire Marshal Rick Butcher said. "Whenever there's an event, he's usually a part of it."

Leonard's wife, Sharon, plans to continue her job as the detectives' secretary with the Tarpon Springs Police Department.

He doesn't have any immediate plans about how he will spend his retirement, except to "work around the house until I get bored," he said.

People who work with Leonard said he will be remembered around the city for a long time. But Leonard was typically self-effacing.

"After a while," he said, "everyone's going to say, 'Harry who?"'

-- Katherine Gazella can be reached at (727) 445-4182 or gazella@sptimes.com.

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