The following was written for the Rhododendron and Azalea News by Dr. David W. Goheen.

In the years following World War II, the study and collection of the many types of rhododendrons has been pursued by gardeners in almost every part of the United States. Interest in this prolific Genus has been, and remains, at a very high level.  Of these gardeners, one of the most well known was David G. Leach. The preface to his Book, Rhododendrons of the World begins with the following paragraph: "Since mankind first sustained his spirit with the beauty of cultivated gardens, the flowering evergreens have been treasured above all other ornamental plants, and no such shrubs and trees have captured the loyal affection more thoroughly than have the magnificent Rhododendrons."          This quotation typifies the love and interest that David Leach had in this Genus of flowering plants.  It is my opinion that no single person has done more to promote interest in the Genus than David, and thus his passing represents a great loss for all of us who treasure the study and collection of this remarkable assemblage of plants.  Although the Book he wrote on  Rhododendrons was published in 1961, the information that he accumulated remains as refreshing today as it was forty years ago. The Book is really a classic.          I was introduced to rhododendrons by Ben Lancaster of Camas, Washington.  I will always remember my astonishment when Ben showed me a letter from David with the letterhead, David Goheen Leach!  I wrote to him and found that we were cousins several times removed and that we were descended from the same great, great grandfather.  Since that time, about forty years ago, I have kept in touch with him and so his passing is also a great personal loss for me.          David was born just prior to World War I and grew up in North Central Pennsylvania, in and about Clarion County.  He was very fond of his mother, Nellie Goheen Leach, and dedicated his monumental Book to her memory, stating that she was the one who instilled in him, his interest in the natural world. His father, Andrew Leach, owned and ran a glove manufacturing plant in Brookville, Pa., and on leaving for college in Wooster, Ohio, David made an interesting pact with his father.  He said that he would take sufficient courses so that he could manage the glove plant after his graduation, but that he would also study genetics and botany.  The pact that was agreed to was that, on reaching the age of forty, he would turn the running of the plant to a manager and that he would then devote all of his time to horticulture.  I do not know exactly how his interest in rhododendrons started but I do know that, on his fortieth birthday, he turned the running of the plant over to a manager and walked out to pursue his real interest!          Following graduation from college, he returned to Brookville, managed the plant, married and raised a family of several children. Somehow, in about 1945, he began his life-long love affair with the Genus Rhododendron.  He corresponded widely and visited many of the early rhododendron enthusiasts such as gable and Nearing in the Eastern US and the Hennys,  Lancaster and Larson in the West.  He quickly recognized that the climate in Central Pennsylvania would accommodate only  rhododendrons that were cold resistant and began to hybridize plants using best forms of species like R. catawbiense and R. maximum.  He was especially taken with a white form of R. catawbiense.  Over the course of years, he achieved considerable success in producing hybrids with pleasing plant habits and flower colors.  He registered more than eighty hybrids and many of these are grown today, even in milder climates.          He was a busy man raising his family, running the factory and reveling in his rhododendron hobby.  As previously  mentioned, on his fortieth birthday, he turned all of his attention to rhododendrons and for four years did an incredible amount of research and study on the Genus.  He was fortunate that the income he received from the factory allowed him to travel widely. He visited nearly all of the rhododendron centers of the World and became acquainted with most of the well-known rhododendron growers of Europe and Asia such as Loder, Stevenson, Russell, Hobbie and Wada as well as many others.  He kept detailed notes and in 1961 his famous Book was published.  With all the frenetic activity as described above, it is interesting that he built a house in Brookville designed by the famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright.  He surrounded the house with a garden containing thousands of rhododendrons necessary for his study of hardiness.          Somehow, perhaps as a result of his determined horticultural activities, which did not allow time for much of anything else, his personal life suffered.  He and his lovely wife, Arlene, separated and David moved himself and his collection from Brookville to North Madison, Ohio where he established a research station and garden dedicated to continuing his work in the genetics of  rhododendrons.  Ultimately in 1987 he contributed the research station, including plants, nursery stock and records, to the Holden Arboretum.  The David G. Leach station has served as a satellite facility of the arboretum with Dr. Leach directing the work in progress.  He also established an endowment fund to help support work at the research station. Notice the title, Doctor.  This was awarded to him as an honorary degree in recognition of his tremendous research and study for his book by his Alma Mater.          Shortly after his move from Brookville, he served a term as president of the American Horticultural Society.  He also continued his travels throughout the World. He met and became friends with so many people. He also continued to write papers and often wrote for the Journal of the American Rhododendron Society.  He was, indeed, a man of many talents.  One characteristic that I found most impressive was his ability to organize his thoughts on almost any subject and express them in concise and entertaining lectures.  I really believe that, given a short period to think about it, he could deliver a creditable lecture on just about any given subject!  He had this talent but he confessed that he never really got over a certain amount of stage fright!          So, thus passes this man who contributed so much to horticulture in general and rhododendrons in particular.  He will be missed and it is difficult to accept the fact that he will be seen no more at rhododendron meetings.  Also, we will miss his informative papers on diverse rhododendron topics, ranging from defense of his introduction of R. Mist Maiden as a true representative of the species R. yakushimanum to the effect of constituents of rhododendron honey on the anabasis of  Xenephon, the Greek who led his troops on their famous retreat through Asia Minor, some 2,400 years ago! -- David W. Goheen, Camas, Washington, Portland Chapter

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