Robert "Bob" Victor Leonardi

Robert or “Bob” Leonardi, 7 weeks older than the Great Depression, was born September 2, 1929, near Black Lane between Corvallis and Hamilton. He was of the generation that made due without. The middle child of Italian immigrants, August and Pierina Leonardi, the farm was a family effort which included the five kids, Rosie, Pete, Robert, Elinore, and Irene.

Robert graduated from Hamilton High in 1950. School suits people in different ways but Robert has never wavered for a second in the importance of education and being well-behaved even for his own kids. He always spoke fondly of teachers like C.D. Haynes and Coach Potter who he played football for. He enjoyed FFA where he served as the local chapter’s president – and reminded his family of that special trip to the national convention via bus to Kansas City in 1948. Each year the snow was deeper and the distances got longer.

He was called to service during the Korean Conflict in the early 1950’s, serving duty in the Naval Reserves before being called home where his service on the farm was deemed vital. Working with his dad and brother, the operation proved a success through diversification. It eventually became his own in the 1960’s. Not that they did anything better or worked any harder than the next place down the road but they were fully engaged. It was their way of life and not some pastime.

Ranching and farming are multi-dimensional requiring differing sets of experience and knowledge. For Robert these included grain crops of barley, wheat, and oats along with grass hay and alfalfa which would provide winter feed. Sugar beets, the earliest and most productive of their endeavors, was a crop that his grandfather, Pete Bosket, his father, August, and he himself excelled at producing. Finally, livestock of beef cattle for market and hogs fattened on that chopped grain and alfalfa along with bands of sheep and coops of chickens that fit into the equation. When you throw in the single milk cow and a huge garden you can call it diversification but what it really is called is creativity and self-reliance.

He was an artist in a sense. The ground was his canvas and his labors were his brush. Being an artist is usually not a team effort. For that matter we’ve never really pictured our dad as someone who has ever really worked for someone else for a pay check. However, he was always willing to work with you. He married Fern Irene Ross on June 7, 1958, and for over 60 years he and the “chief cook and bottle washer” shared this same canvas, raising three children, until her passing in 2021. Their creativity and willingness to learn cannot be measured. There’s virtually nothing he couldn’t build that’s made of steel, he was part machinist part Houdini when it came to making and fixing equipment, he was a fair carpenter and had no problem re-using bent nails after straightening them, and though he was the best irrigator we’ve ever seen, he still couldn’t make water run up hill.

He had a spirit of generosity that’s different from most of us. If you knew him, when was the last time he told you that he couldn’t lend you a hand? We’re not talking about a person who wrote checks for causes-thinking that money was some sort of cure. He was willing to put his back into it! He’s served on the board of the Farmer’s Home Administration, as ditch commissioner for Daly Ditches, an early member of the Bitterroot Draft Horse Club, a member of both the Rocky Mountain Grange and the local Eagles Lodge. Furthermore, what 4th grader in the last generation returned home from Farm Day without a section of handmade rope that Robert helped them craft? Finally, there’s the Montana Centennial Cattle Drive in 1989 from Roundup to Billings. He trained the horses, he built the wagon. He could have herded cows without leaving his front yard but that wasn’t the point. This was more about a celebration of skills and a comradery with those who shared a sense that this type activity wasn’t some sort of ancient history but was a way of life just a couple generations ago.

He knew all the stories and history; he wouldn’t hesitate sharing the lessons with you. He made his point with his family: daughter Mary Wetzsteon (Joe) of Hamilton, daughter Karen Gipe (Darren) of Trabuco Canyon, CA, and son Philip (Alyce) of Hamilton. He will be remembered by his seven grandkids Devin (Sarah), Meryn, Robert Anthony d. 2019, Kara (Chris), Blaine, Megan (Jonathan), Ashley (Charlie), and Nolan along with his three great-grandsons Cooper, Colter and Camden. He was fond of all of his nieces and nephews who all experienced “Uncle Robert”. Though he is the last of his immediate family, calling it “quits” on November 21, 2025, his extended family is far-reaching and grateful for his impact. We express our sincere gratitude to Trucare and Partners in Health Care for making his final days at his home both comfortable and safe.

A memorial celebration and luncheon will be held at 11:00 am on Monday, December 1, 2025, at the Daly-Leach Chapel with a reception following in the funeral home’s community room. Internment will take place at Riverview Cemetery. In-lieu-of flowers, Robert recommended donations to the Play Like Robert Foundation, honoring his namesake, Robert Anthony, designed to promote learning, play, and the courage to “try” in our local community. The PLRF is located at 251 South Crest Avenue, Hamilton, MT, 59840 and additional information can be found at www.playlikerobert.org. Condolences may be left for the family at www.dalyleachchapel.com.