Gedney, Leslie

Description

Leslie Gedney born on Oct 7, 1920, to Elsie Krietler and David Leslie Gedney. He graduated from Rye High School in 1939. He had two brothers Charles and Albert. In Rye his family lived at 90 Grapal Street and were members of the Presbyterian Church.

Leslie enlisted January 8, 1942 and served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He served as a staff sergeant and was a waist gunner on a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress with the 423 Bombardment Squadron. He received his gunnery training at the Army Training School at Las Vegas, Nev. and later attended the flying school Salt Lake City, Utah.

He married Dorothy Lily Abraham in 1943 in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. They had four children during their marriage.

Leslie completed 48 combat missions over Germany, serving in the first heavy overseas bombardment squadron of the United States. Out of 112 fliers in the squadron, only four survived the war. He received the Air Medal and was honorably discharged September 24, 1945.

A certified tree surgeon, after the war Leslie studied plants, tree and their diseases at the New York Botanical Garden. In 1947, he started the L. Gedney Tree Service, a tree surgery and spraying business in Rye. He was also a Jewelry maker, avid fisherman and hunter. Leslie was a former captain in the Rye Volunteer Fire Department He also was the Republican district leader in Rye in the 1970s.

D. Leslie Gedney, a lifelong resident of Rye, died July 2, 1990 at United Hospital Medical Center in Port Chester. He was 69.

At the time of his death , he was survived by his wife; two sons, Leslie A. of Harrison and Walter H. of Enfield, Conn.; two daughters, Linda S. of Rye and Karen M. of Cape Cod, Mass.; two brothers, Charles E. of Orinda, Calif, and Albert of Rye; a sister, Barbara Stolle of Rye Brook; and eight grandchildren.