Jr. Leeson

Ammon Doc Kershner Leeson, Jr. age 56, died on Friday, December 24, at his home at 8607 Nancy Place, Little Rock, AR from complications caused by multiple myeloma. He was one of five children born to the late Barbara and Ammon Leeson, Sr. and was the beloved husband of Deborah Lynn Vazquez Leeson. Doc will forever be remembered by his beloved children Shawn Leeson Traecey of Marysville, WA and Barbara Leeson of Boise, ID, from a prior marriage, and his treasured grandchildren Caitlyn Leeson, Victoria Wilson and Alyssa Fischer, his devoted brothers Jim Leeson Beth of Pottstown, PA and Mark Leeson Shawn of Casa Grande, AZ and his loving sisters Kathy Grace of Atkins, IA and Judy Russell of McCleary, WA along with many nieces and nephews, cousins, Aunts and Uncles and other extended family members as well as countless friends that were blessed to know him. Also missing Doc are his fur-ball Chihuahua babies: Ikaika Kai and Ihelani Kai Lani. Born October 25, 1954, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, Doc attended Northern Chester Technical High School and upon graduation in 1972 entered basic training with the Air Force. He served two active duty enlistments plus 2 years in the Air National Guard. He returned to the Air Force as part of civil service in the field of electronic communications and technology being assigned to various locations through Langley’s AFETS, an elite corps of civil service technical experts from 1981 through August of 2005 making friends at numerous airbase assignments with Tucson, AZ, Mountain Home, ID, Sacramento, CA, and Honolulu, HI being fairly long term positions as well as various locations overseas including a project assignment in Saudi during Desert Storm where Doc learned to have a healthy respect for camels. In 2008, Doc was assigned to Little Rock, AR and retired from the position of Deputy Director of the 19th Communications Squadron at the end of August 2010. Doc enjoyed quite a variety of challenges during his 36 years of service but some of the more gratifying moments included being one of the first Computer Network AFETS working with engineering teams to design and build computer networks at the Squadron, Group, Base and MAJCOM level. One of his most rewarding assignments was at Hickam where he worked with PACAF Network Operations and Security Center, upgraded Windows NT to Windows 2000 Active Directory and received the 2005 Chief of Staff Team Excellence Award for designing and building an enterprise network weapons simulator where mission crew members received hands on certification training in the real world environment using virtual machines. While in Little Rock, Doc had the great pleasure of working with some of the finest and most dedicated Airmen in his career pursuing the highest goals for each area as significant restructuring was in full sway. Words cannot express how honored and grateful Doc was for their tremendous support during the past 3 years. Some of Doc’s favorite interests included, all things techie for sure but he also loved star gazing, story telling, reading, music - classic rock, his favorite group being Pink Floyd, movies with the Wizard of Oz being right up there at the top and all things Star Trek, Babylon 5, Serenity, Matrix and Avatar being close contenders, as well as other fun activities including hiking, boating, snorkeling, motorcycling, table tennis, checking out insects, birds and all kinds of animals and of course, walking the fur babies and most recently exploring the roads in his Camaro. In his career and in his personal life, Doc touched the lives of many people with his generous spirit, enthusiasm, and sense of humor. Doc enjoyed every day of his life, always looking for the positive and seeing the best in people. His career brought him great satisfaction and he truly treasured his wife, his family and his friends. At his retirement celebration earlier this year, Doc shared some of his philosophy stating that, "you cannot control events that happen in life; however you can control how you react to those events" and this he did. He also believed that "every day is a new blessing" and often was able to be part of someone else’s need, be it by helping them achieve something or by just listening. He loved the concept of "pay it forward" and thought daily life would be much simpler and so much more enjoyable if we would all just do something kind for someone else whenever we could. The Leeson family wishes to thank the doctors, nurses, and staff at the Myeloma Institute and UAMS for their diligent and compassionate care. Special thanks also to our good friend, Linda Martz, for all of her much appreciated and very generous support and understanding. And to our neighbors Ernest and Thelma Jackson who have been so helpful and wonderfully caring during these past few years. Doc spent each day of his life focusing on the daily joys and peaceful moments while being grateful for all he had and he was always eager to share whatever he was enjoying with others. At his request, there will not be a funeral service. In lieu of flowers, and in the spirit of sharing, memorial contributions may be made to a charity of your choosing or to any of the following organizations which were special to Doc:
Little Rock Zoo
Arkansas Zoological Foundation Inc 1 Jonesboro Dr. Little Rock, AR 72120 http://www.zoofoundation.org/donate
http://thepenguinproject.org Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy
at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Attn: Janet Aronson
4301 West Markham Street, #816 Little Rock, AR 72205-9985 http://myeloma.uams.edu/make-a-donation/ Heifer International
P.O. Box 8058 Little Rock, Arkansas 72203-8058
http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.195980/

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