GERALD B. LEAVEY, JR., 1LT, USAF

Gerald Leavey, Jr. '56

Date of birth: February 28, 1932

Date of death: January 14, 1959

Age: 26

Lucky Bag

From the 1956 Lucky Bag:

GERALD BARRY LEAVEY, JR

Arlington, Texas

Barry came to the Academy after attending Arlington State College in Texas for one year, and the University of Maryland for one semester. At both schools he was a member of the ROTC. While at the Academy he was a member of the Varsity Gymnastics team and played several intramural sports. Although Barry was not a starman scholastically, he made an above average mark. Barry' was the member of his class who officially ended Plebe year by placing his cap on the top of Herndon Monument. His great love for good music and the fine arts provided him with a great deal of satisfaction.

GERALD BARRY LEAVEY, JR

Arlington, Texas

Barry came to the Academy after attending Arlington State College in Texas for one year, and the University of Maryland for one semester. At both schools he was a member of the ROTC. While at the Academy he was a member of the Varsity Gymnastics team and played several intramural sports. Although Barry was not a starman scholastically, he made an above average mark. Barry' was the member of his class who officially ended Plebe year by placing his cap on the top of Herndon Monument. His great love for good music and the fine arts provided him with a great deal of satisfaction.

Loss

Gerald was lost on January 14, 1959 when the T-33 he was piloting crashed at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma.

Other Information

From USNA '56:

Barry was a Texan who came to the Academy via two years in ROTC at Arlington State College in Texas and the University of Maryland. He was a member of the varsity gym team. He had the unique honor of officially ending our plebe year, by placing his cap on the top of Herndon Monument after the ’53 graduation.
Barry entered the Air Force upon graduating from USNA. He was killed in a T-33 training flight accident at Vance AFB, OK in January 1959.

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Gerald graduated from Arlington High School in 1950 with the name Barry Levy. Basketball '49-'50; Jr. Play in which he played Professor Slattery in “That Crazy Smith Family.”
He served as a seaman apprentice in the Naval Reserve and entered the Naval Academy on an appointment from the Reserve.
Gerald was stationed at Moore Air Base in June 1958. He married Gertrude Hilda Hedwin Ruebee.

He is buried in Tennessee and was survived by his widow, Gertrude. (Survivor information via email from Class of '56 representative on December 4, 2017.)