In Memory of Leon McElveen
Williams Park is truly heartbroken over the loss of James ‘Leon’ McElveen. Leon passed away on July 30, 2019. He was born on February 27, 1956 in Griffin, Georgia. He attended Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, graduating in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture. He enjoyed spending time with his family and friends and working with many organizations close to his heart, including the Atlanta Civil War Round Table, the Boy Scouts of America, the Sigma Chi Fraternity, and the Atlanta History Center.
Leon was a lot of things to a lot of people, and you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who had anything negative to say about the fun-loving, practical joker who was always willing to lend a hand, whether to a neighbor, friend or person in need.
Russ Sayers has lived next door to Leon for many years and got to witness first-hand how genuine and helpful Leon was to many people. “I saw Leon just about every day. He was my buddy. He was always available to me, and he enjoyed helping others. He would always let me know when a project I was thinking about needed more planning, or the proper way to go about the project. I saw him fixing lawnmowers for neighbors and giving rides to people who needed it. When I broke both of my wrists working in my yard – Leon took me to the hospital. One of the reasons I like my house so much was that he lived next door. I sure am going to miss him.”
It’s rare to find someone as selfless as Leon. He genuinely wanted to help people and expected nothing in return. “Leon was a kind, smart, witty person who was a good friend especially to Keith [Bentley, WPN President]," said Susan Bentley, Keith's wife and fellow Board Member. " Leon was the person whom Keith could call for help with a WPN event, membership, development, etc. and Keith would know that Leon would come and help — maybe with a good suggestion on how to do something. He came to our events and rarely missed a board meeting”
His love for his Alma Mater, Georgia Tech, is something that assuredly would come up in conversation a lot of the time. Whether you were with his team or against them, you could always expect spirited conversation as witnessed by Alan Turner and others many times. “Leon had the ability to pull a good joke. Don’t be surprised if he pulls his GT card on 11/30/2019. Man sure is gonna be missed around the neighborhood!” Turner said.
Not only was Leon a great neighbor and friend, he was also very involved with the Williams Park Neighbors Association as witnessed by many, but probably most importantly Keith Bentley. “Leon was on the WPN board for 10 years plus," Keith said. "He had one of the more demanding jobs as membership chair, keeping up with who paid dues and when, email lists, addresses, Facebook, all of which are constantly changing. It is a big job that Leon just worked steadily on with his typical good humor. We grew personally closer as Leon worked with me on development and zoning issues. We had a number of meetings at Creatwood Tavern and Leon never let me buy the beer. Those were some pretty fun meetings. I felt like Leon was my best friend from the neighborhood. I think Leon was the best friend of a lot of people.”
It's rare to find someone as unique and spirited as Leon who’s capable of leaving a lasting legacy like he has. Living across from him for the past three years have been so great. He loved to brag about his daughters, Erin and Sarah, and reminisced often of their adventures growing up. He so loved Linda and epitomized what a family man and neighbor should be. I still get sad when I see the garage door open but know that he’s not inside there anymore piddling on something. I laugh when I think of the multiple jokes he’s played on me and Christie over the years, always in good fun. He won’t be at Adopt A Mile anymore but his spirit will be.
I know that we could have filled a book of quotes and statements about Leon if we had asked for more input into this article. Instead, I say that we all lift a cold Heineken or favorite beverage to the sky and toast to a great friend, Father, Husband and Neighbor and maybe even utter a “Go Jackets!"