Mr. Richard Malcolm Leal, 88, of Cape Charles, passed from this life at Sentara Hospice House Virginia Beach Monday, Sept. 28, 2020, after a brief illness.
Born in Carshalton, Surrey, England in 1932, Richard was a child of wartime Britain, surviving the Blitz and strafing of his hometown by Nazi bombers amid other wartime privations and adventures which, while traumatic at that time, made for a trove of treasured stories to be told and retold throughout his life. He served in the Royal Air Force and was a graduate of Croyden Polytechnic.
In 1967, he was offered a position as head of the New York City office of a London-based company. Despite having neither family, friends, or connections here, he nonetheless immigrated to the United States together with his wife, Janet Dixon Leal, and children, Jeremy and Rebecca, settling in Ridgewood, N.J. He was associated with various businesses over the ensuing years, retiring in 1998 as vice president of the manufacturers’ representative company Maloney & Curcio, Inc., Mountainside, N.J.
Richard and Janet chose to spend their retirement years by the water, settling in Cape Charles where they built a house and put down new roots through numerous volunteer activities until her untimely passing in 1999.
Richard was a consummate salesman who never met a stranger and never shrank from sharing his jokes and strong opinions on life in his trademark British accent. He relished and rose to meet every challenge with the determination and “stiff upper lip” mindset he inherited from his father.
Richard leaves his wife, Joan Prescott, of Cape Charles, whom he married in 2004; son, Jeremy Leal (Colette), of Atlanta, Ga.; daughter, Rebecca Johnson (John), of Port Jervis, N.Y.; grandchildren, Aisling and Taryn Leal, and Cassandra, Timothy, and Christopher Johnson; and stepdaughters, Julie Wray and Carolyn Cordrey. He was a member of the Cape Charles Rotary Club.
A memorial and celebration of Richard’s life will be held at a post-COVID future date.
Condolences may be offered to the family at www.hollomon-brown.com
