Leonard James Vines ’39

Leonard James Vines ’39 of Orinda, California, died September 28, 2009. At Dartmouth Len majored in English and was a member of Psi Upsilon, Green Key, Dragon and the football squad. During WW II he joined the Army Air Corps and after special training at Lowery Field in Denver, Colorado, and a two-month school at General Electric, was put in charge of training men in the operation of the complex gun turrets of the B-29 superfortress bombers. Len ran this important program for four years until war’s end, when he was demobilized as lieutenant colonel. Len’s postwar career was spent in the property and casualty insurance business as Pacific Coast manager for Employers’ Insurance Group. In the 10 years before retiring at age 68, he worked with a San Francisco insurance agency. He enjoyed success and the respect of clients and peers throughout his career. Len met Martha Billings when he was in prep school at Phillips Andover. Those of us in the Psi U house came to know Martha and realized that she and Len were meant for each other. They were married in 1942 and, when Martha died in 2002, Len said he “was torn up for two years.” They leave sons Richard and Jonathan and grandson Buchanan. Len enjoyed the simple things in life. He loved to read, see children playing, and watch football or baseball on TV. He was a truly fine person.