EAST BERNE — Lyndon “Mike” Leonard, a longtime Berne-Knox-Westerlo teacher and well-known archer, died unexpectedly on Saturday, Aug. 18, 2018. He was 70.

He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts on Jan. 26, 1948. He graduated from Monadnock High School in Swanzey, New Hampshire in 1966.

He served in the United States Air Force as a Blue Beret for four years during the Vietnam War.

He graduated from Keene State College in 1974, earning his bachelor’s degree in industrial arts. He then went on to earn his master’s degree in education at Albany State.

Mr. Leonard was employed at Berne-Knox-Westerlo Central School district from 1974 until his retirement in 2004.

He was a New York State Archery Chairperson for the Empire State Games. He earned numerous medals from state archery events himself, including two Bronze medals from the National Senior Games in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Louisville, Kentucky. He taught archery here at home at Heldeberg Workshop – Rakowana Archery.

Mr. Leonard was the regional director for Ducks Unlimited-Eastern Region for many years. He was an avid hunter and fisherman.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Paula; his daughters, Lauren Leonard and her husband, Randall Partridge Jr., of Greenville, New York and Alison Leonard and her fiancé, Adam Karazuba, of Dallas, Texas; his mother, Vivian Pickering, of Keene, New Hampshire; and his sister, Devida DePalma, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

His father, Kenneth W. Leonard, died before him.

Calling hours were on Tuesday, Aug. 21, at the Fredendall Funeral Home in Altamont with a funeral service there on Wednesday and interment at Mount Pleasant Cemetery on Route 85 New Scotland.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Shriners Hospitals for Children, 516 Carew Street, Springfield, MA 01104.