As I write this, it has been 10-years already since you’ve left this world.

It is entirely Leonard’s fault that I am doing this today. He was a voracious researcher, diving into phone books and anything he could find that would generate leads on Becraft’s that might live or have lived in the place he was currently at. His notes would come to me as copies of envelopes, napkins, and other writeable materials that he found and could put a pen or pencil to write that newest bit down.

Leonard contributed our genealogy to a book published as “Burtonsville Heritage, Genealogically Speaking” by Elizabeth M Lord and published in 1978. It was the core book to the Maryland Becraft line and helped establish that material for future enhancements and references.

I will miss the visits and inevitably, the family history discussions that came up in those visits. It was always a surprise to have Leonard roll up in his old pickup truck, fresh from a visit to the auction house down the road from our home in New Windsor, MD. A call from Leonard would entail a deeper family discussion around something he had recently found, or was pondering and needed a second opinion. Too often, those calls were also to inform on the passing of another of our older generations. Those all stopped when we got the call of his passing.

Leonard was a true family treasure and one of the people who shared everything he found about our family history. I would like to think that I am following in those footsteps and sharing like Leonard and so many others you will find here have done.