Thomas Leary

Thomas Conway Leary, 84, of Leawood, KS died Wednesday, October 10, 2007. Mass of Christian burial will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, October 13 at Cure' of Ars Catholic Church, 9401 Mission Road, Leawood, KS. Burial in Forest Hill Cemetery, Kansas City, MO. Visitation will be held from 4-6 p.m. Friday, October 12 at the church with rosary at 5:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers the family suggests contributions to the American Red Cross or St. Luke's Hospital Foundation. Conway was born November 2, 1922 to Frances J. and Thomas J. Leary in Kansas City, MO. He graduated from Border Star Elementary School and Southwest High School. He was a proud Eagle Scout in Troop #123 and a standout All - City athlete. He attended Rockhurst College and the University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, where he was a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity. During his junior year at MU, Conway enlisted in the Army Air Corps. Upon graduation from cadet flight training as a 2nd Lieutenant Pilot Officer, he married his high school sweetheart, Mary Jo Buschman. Conway was later sent to Europe as a P- 51 fighter pilot. While on a strafing mission near Budapest, Hungary his plane was badly damaged by flak and he was forced to bail out. Conway spent the next seven months as a POW in various German Prisoner of War Camps. He left the Army Air Corps as a 1st Lieutenant. He was the owner of Leary Industrial Cutting Tool Company. He was a Cub Scout Pack Master, coached and managed various 3-2 baseball teams and coached YMCA football teams. He was a former Chairman of the Mission Valley Pony Club and a Director of the Missouri Horse Shows Association. He was a member of Mission Hills Country club, the Vanguard Club, Sigma Chi Alumni, the John C. Monroe, Jr. Post of the American Legion and the WWII American Beagle Squadron Association. He was preceded in death by his parents; his brother, Robert J. Leary and his sister, Kathleen Malley. Conway is survived by his wife of 63 years, Mary Jo; his son, Thomas Charles Leary; his son, John Robert Leary and his wife Suzy; his son, James M. Leary; his daughter, Marianne E. Leary and her husband Richard Calvert; grandchildren, Brooke Nichols, Courtney Jacklevic, J. Evan Leary, Kit Michael Leary, William Conway Leary and Geoffrey Thomas Leary.

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