The following is the eulogy delivered by Rabbi David Adelson at the funeral service for Leonard Spring, June 14, 2011:

Leonard Spring

I, like each of us here today, am indebted to Leonard. His life was a life of selfless and devoted service. He was a partner to Helene in every aspect of their shared life. His was devoted to his daughters and grandchildren and was very present in their lives. And he was the model of a committed lay leader in the Reform movement to which few others have risen. In every sphere, he was motivated by a desire for service: to those he loved, to East End Temple, in which he invested so much of himself, and to all of Reform Judaism, which defined his life. He was modest and did not appreciate excessive attention. Helene acknowledged that were it up to him, his funeral today likely would have been a small graveside affair. But then, of course, he would have compromised both to support his wife in her need, and to give all of us, to whom Leonard meant so much, the chance to honor him properly and publicly. And so with that purpose, we are here this morning.

It is no doubt difficult for us to imagine the Spring family, or East End Temple, or the Reform movement, without Leonard. That is not primarily because of his longevity, but because of his steady presence and leadership at the center of so much of each. He had such an impact on so many people -- as attested by the numbers here today to honor someone who had already lost so many of his peers -- because he was such a model to so many. He was a model of ethical and upright behavior, kind, a gentleman, straight talking and a natural leader.

Leonard was born in Detroit and spent his early years in South Bend, Indiana. He moved with his family to New York and at age 13 met Helene at a dance at Rodeph Sholom on the Upper West Side. As she hastens to remind others trying to do the math, they did not marry until a few years later. As the U.S. entered WWII, although limited by the effects of osteomyelitis in his leg, Leonard left his early work in advertising and joined the War Production Board. He could not tolerate failing to serve in a time of need. He and Helene began dating. Their first date, on Jan. 9, 1942, to see the play “Lady in the Dark” and then a stop at the Tip-toe Inn was the same date, almost 40 years later, of the birth of their first grandchild Betsey.

Leonard meanwhile had embarked on his life of leadership positions in the Reform movement. He was president of the youth group at Rodeph Sholom, president of the NY youth regional group, and in his early 20’s, as it was then done, was elected as the third president of NFTY – the national youth movement.

So when Helene and Leonard moved to Peter Cooper from across town at London Terrace, when Helene was pregnant with Lesley in 1948, Leonard was naturally drawn to assume a leadership role at the newly forming East End Temple. Helene remained devoted to the Rodeph Sholom of her youth, but Leonard prevailed, and she joined him. Helene and Leonard have remained -- as we all know -- leaders of the Temple ever since, with the Temple now in its 63rd year. Leonard served in every level and type of leadership, including ten years as president.

I asked Helene what made Leonard such a natural leader. She responded that he was everything a leader should be. He avoided trivialities and did not micro-manage. He respected others, and expected their respect. He was a wonderful speaker, not only for his beautiful speaking voice, but for his inspirational yet direct, matter-of-fact, style. He thought easily on an organizational level, and his basic kindness made him an eager mentor. He enjoyed helping others toward their own full leadership potential, and then allowing them to soar on their own. And he not only encouraged other leaders at the Temple in this way. Helene, believe it or not, describes herself in her early life as shy and often intimidated. Early in their marriage, it was Leonard who encouraged her independence, in personal and public life. Without him, she insists, she would never have become the leader she was to become. Meanwhile Leonard eventually served at nearly every level of leadership in the Reform movement as well. He was president of the NY region of synagogues, served on the then UAHC board, and on numerous Union committees, especially in marketing and leadership development. Leonard trained others to train their own leaders.

Leonard derived great satisfaction in his work life, at several advertising agencies, and then at his own, Leonard Spring and Associates. His sold his business to RSD Marketing, where he remained as CFO, and worked until just a couple of years ago.

In just a minute, we will hear from Meryl, and Helene and Leonard’s grandchildren Betsey and Geoff. So I will leave to them to describe Leonard as a father and grandfather. But briefly, Leonard was as ready to serve his children as he was the Jewish people. He enjoyed being very hands on and present as a father in a generation when that was not always the case. When Meryl was a baby, he enjoyed, even after coming home late from live TV shoots of products which he was marketing, staying up in the night to take care of her. And when Lesley was a baby, Leonard won the Peter Cooper baby-diapering contest for fathers. I hear they may be bringing that one back. Leonard loved being just as much a supportive fixture in his grandchildren’s lives, and taught each of Betsey, Geoff and Adam to drive a car.

And there was Leonard’s 65 years of marriage to Helene. Rabbi Ed Klein said of them in their early days, a marriage made in heaven. They were indeed perfectly balanced. Where Helene was emotional, Leonard was steady. Where she was effusive, he got right to the point. They made each other better leaders, and supported from the background when the other stepped to the fore. And even in their home, Leonard cooked and Helene took care of things mechanical. They were at the very center of a social circle at East End Temple, which in its baby-boom halcyon days included hundreds. Leonard treasured his close friends from those days, and made new friends continually, until the very end.

Hardly anyone has had a bad word to say about Leonard in all his years. He so easily earned the respect of more people than we can count. I believe that as much as he meant to so many on a personal level, he meant more still on the symbolic level that leaders often inspire. They saw him as model of integrity, honesty and diligence, an unfaltering rock of steadiness as leader at the Temple, in the movement, and as a husband, father and grandfather. I personally experienced Leonard as the living patriarch of the Temple, the George Washington of our community, still fully active and leading the charge until the very end. He was a gentleman of a former generation, whose passion for the Temple he loved was undiminished after 63 years. He was a classical Reform Jew, and would not appear in Temple without a jacket and tie. It took me a little while to earn his respect as rabbi here, but ultimately earning it really meant something. I am able to serve here today because of his decades of service to the community we both held dear.

I could say so much more, but will stop here, as words cannot suffice to capture what Leonard meant to his family, friends, to East End Temple and the Jewish people. We have lost a true leader, a true gentleman and a rock at the center of our lives. We may be comforted by the facts of his longevity: today would have been his 89th birthday, he led at EET for 63 years and was married to Helene for 65. Losing Lesley was devastating, but certainly, Leonard’s was a life of which he could be very proud. All that he was, all that he accomplished, and all that he meant to so many will remain woven into the fabric of his family, this Temple, and the Jewish people, always.

We offer our deep condolences to Meryl and Michael, to Stephen, to Betsey and Danny, to Geoff and Debbie, to Adam, to Luke, Hunter, and now also to Benjamin. And to Helene, who has lost her other half, we pray for your strength. The best way we can honor Leonard is to follow his example of service to community, of personal integrity, and of steady, loving, devotion.

Leonard Spring, zichrono livracha, may his memory be a blessing.