Teaching a healthy lifestyle

Nona Leonard, 92, gives tai chi classes to those wanting stress relief and exercise without unhealthy strain.

By TERRY JONES
© St. Petersburg Times
published July 30, 2002

TAMPA -- Some observers have described Nona Leonard as gliding when she guides her students in tai chi classes.

She started the activity at the suggestion of an older brother more than two decades ago, and she has been teaching students in Tampa for the past several years. She teaches more than 100 students a week at two locations. Leonard, 92, lives in South Tampa and teaches as a volunteer.

Leonard's parents, Bolossy and Helen Kiralfy, were naturalized U.S. citizens; she was born in Belgium. Her family was theatrical and traveled throughout Europe during her childhood and most of her adult years.

On March 24, 1910, Bolossy Kiralfy had to excuse his family from a dinner invitation with King Albert I of Belgium because his wife was giving birth. The king and his wife later went to see the little girl, Nona.

"My father was so impressed by the visit, he asked the king to be my godfather," Leonard said. "Of course he accepted, and that has always been an honor for me. I started performing onstage at the age of 5, and during my lifetime, I have been with my family in seven royal performances."

Included in her career was plenty of dancing, plus performances in 28 British movies. Her long list of dance partners includes Fred Astaire and John Travolta.

During World War II, she lived mostly in Florida, and during the war she met U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Marston Leonard.

"He was the most fascinating gentleman I had ever met, and he just swept me off my feet," she said. "He was a popular person in the Air Force, and we had a great life together. After his death, I never married again. We had two sons, Bob, now 58, and Larry, now 52. I now have three grandchildren."

As Nona Leonard's theatrical career began to slow, she did not. But she wanted activity that would help her maintain a healthy lifestyle.

"The movements to tai chi provide healthy exercise for the body without strain," she said.

"Some people who sign up for my classes ask me if they have to change their religion. No, of course not. I am an Episcopalian, and I don't intend to change at all. It is simply healthy exercise older folks can safely participate in."

Her brother, Alex Kiralfy, worked for Paramount Pictures in New York at a job she described as highly stressful.

"Having spent most of his life traveling and entertaining in Europe and speaking many languages, he knew the entertainment market," she said. "He would view the films to be released in Europe and provide an estimate of the income it would bring. If wrong, Paramount would lose a lot of money, so it was stressful to him. He started tai chi and lived to 95."

She says she plans to continue teaching tai chi as long as she is able.

If you go

Nona Leonard's tai chi classes are 9-10:30 a.m. Tuesday and Friday at the Joe Abrahams Fitness and Wellness Center, 5212 Interbay Blvd., Tampa, and noon-1 p.m. Friday at the Barksdale Senior Center, 1801 N Lincoln near McFarland Park, Tampa.

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