Dr. Graham Leonard, 96, died on Wednesday, January 18, 2023, in Lawrenceville, NJ. Graham was born in Kingsport to Robert Spencer Leonard and Mary Sale Leonard on July 16, 1926. Having briefly attended the Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD, Graham graduated from the University of Tennessee just after World War II. He later completed a Masters degree at Syracuse and a PhD at Harvard University.

On September 2, 1957, he married Lilly Abu Nassar of Nazareth, Palestine. They divorced in 1964, but not before the birth of two daughters.

In his long career, Graham served as pastor of the Friends Meeting and taught at the Friends schools in Ramallah, Palestine, served as dean of students at the American University of Beirut, worked for UNRWA and UNESCO, and taught at University of Paris, Beijing University, the State University of New York, and East Tennessee State University. After the invasion of Iraq, Graham helped to culturally orient Tennessee National Guard troops then preparing for service in the Kurdish north, and, in 2004, he ran as a Democrat for Congress from Tennessee’s 1st Congressional District. In the final decades of his life, Graham served as an advisor to the Ministry of Education of the Kingdom of Jordan. He also advised the Leonard Education Organization (LE.O).

In addition to his parents, Graham is preceded in death by his stepmother, Hope Palmer Leonard, his ex-wife, Lilly Abu Nassar, his brothers Robert Spencer Leonard Jr. and Alan Palmer Leonard Sr., his sister Mary Susan Pangle, his brother-in-law Robert Lewis Pangle, and his son-in-law Alan Dresner.

He is survived by his two daughters Deya' Leonard Dresner Bradic and Mona Lentz, his sons-in-law Dr. Branislav Bradic and Craig Lentz, his brother Gilbert Leonard and his wife Linda, his sister-in-law Jean Hester, and his grandson Alexander Dresner, Alex’s wife Molly, and their two sons, Grey and Jack, as well as by his nieces Abby Lynn Morley and Cindy Pangle Faccone and his nephews Spencer Leonard and Alan Palmer Leonard Jr. and Spencer’s wife, Debali Mookerjea-Leonard.

As per his wishes, there will be no memorial service for Graham. However, for those who wish to honor him, his family and loved ones will gather in spirit at noon on Sunday the 29th of January for fifteen minutes of silence and reflection on Graham’s life. In this way, we can unite in spirit together and share this Quaker practice from around the world.

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