Eugene D. "Gene" Leatherman

It is with great sadness that the family of Eugene David Leatherman announce his passing on September 21, 2020. Mr. Leatherman was born on July 21, 1936 in Hagerstown, Maryland to the late Geneva and Brewer Leatherman. He graduated from Hagerstown High School in 1954 and went to work for Frick Company in Waynesboro, PA for five years during which the majority of his time he was working in the northeast installing ice skating rinks and cold storage units. In 1959 he was drafted into the United States Army and served until 1961. He was stationed in Okinawa, Japan. The most memorable moment of his Army career was standing on the Troopship Gaffe on December 7, 1959 and saluting the USS Arizona on the Eighth Anniversary of it’s bombing by Japanese aircraft where she lay to rest in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The bombs and subsequent explosion killed 1,177 of the 1,512 crewmen on board at the time. In April 1960, Mr. Leatherman was selected Soldier of the Month of the Far East. Upon returning home Mr. Leatherman married Donna Kay Leatherman on January 27, 1962 and had recently celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary. He went to work for his father-in-law’s plumbing company H.E. Hoover Plumbing and Heating and eventually took over that business and operated it for the next thirty years. He coached baseball for 34 years starting with Little League through Adult League in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. He was a long-time member of Faith United Methodist Church of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania volunteering thousands of hours to community service projects, was a long-time member of the American Legion of Hagerstown, Maryland, and the Owls Club, Elks Club, Eagles Club, and Moose Club of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania and was a long-time member of Pennsylvania Plumbing, Heating and Cooling Association. Mr. Leatherman is survived by his wife, Donna Kay Leatherman, his son, Stephen Eugene Leatherman and his wife Jennifer Lynn Leatherman and their children Lauren Kay Leatherman and Landon Stephen Leatherman of Middletown, Maryland. He is also survived by his sister, Judith Diane Brewer, her husband Terry Brewer, their son, Christopher Aaron Jacob Brewer and his wife Allyson Renee Brewer and their toddler daughter, Addison Lee Brewer of Hagerstown, Maryland. The family will receive friends at Grove-Bowersox Funeral Home, 50 S. Broad St., Waynesboro, Pennsylvania on Wednesday September 23rd, 2020 between the hours of 6:00 and 8:00 P.M. Funeral services will be held graveside at Green Hill Cemetery, 953 S. Potomac St., Waynesboro, Pennsylvania on Thursday September 24th, 2020 at 11:00 A.M., where military graveside honors will be conducted by the honor guard of Charles Nitterhouse V.F.W. Post #1599, Chambersburg. Donations in Mr. Leatherman’s honor may be made to Faith United Methodist Church, 104 N. Potomac St., Waynesboro, PA 17268 and Hospice of Washington County, 747 Northern Ave., Hagerstown, MD, 21742. Online condolences may be expressed at www.bowersoxfuneralhomes.com