#Beloved husband and father

Kenneth H. Leaf, age 74, of Orange passed away on Saturday, August 5, 2017, in St. Raphael’s Hospital in New Haven surrounded by his loving family.

He was born on December 15, 1942, in Bridgeport to the late Charles and Ellen Swensen Leaf and was a graduate of Bassick High School Class of 1960.

He proudly served in the US Air Force during the Vietnam Era serving as a B-52 Crew Chief and assigned to the organizational maintenance squadron at the March Air Force Base in California and was also stationed in Guam where he was part of 4133rd Bombardment Wing at Anderson Air Force Base.

He worked for Avco Lycoming of Stratford where he was a member of Local 1010, Bullard Company of Bridgeport and was currently employed as a quality assurance specialist for 33 years for the Department of Defense.

An active member of the community, he is the current Commander of the American Legion Post 127 in Orange, where he previously served as the Vice Commander. He previously belonged to the SS Norden Club of Black Rock. He also was a car enthusiast and raced at Dover Raceway and Connecticut Drag Strip.

A devoted husband, father, brother and uncle, he is survived by his loving wife Deborah Barnes Leaf, his children Jacqueline, Derek and Elena Leaf all of Orange, sister Dorothy DeWalt and her husband Al of Trumbull and many nieces and nephews.

Besides his parents, he is predeceased by his brother Charles Leaf Sr. and nephews Charles Leaf Jr. and Doug DeWalt.

Visitation is Thursday, August 10, 2017, from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Smith Funeral Home, 135 N Broad St., Milford.

A funeral service will take place at the funeral home on Friday, August 11 at 10 a.m.

Interment will follow in Orange Center Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to the American Cancer Society or the American Legion Post 127 Scholarship Fund.

The family would like to thank all first responders and health care professionals that helped with Ken’s care.

Ulrich Hans Weil, MD, was born in 1923 in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocaw, Poland) to Sigmund Weil, a professor of orthopedics, and Elsa Weil.

With the rise of the Nazis he was sent to school in Switzerland, but at 16 he was required to return to Germany to serve the country. As his father was Jewish, Ulrich was considered to be of ‘mixed blood’, and so was sent to a labor camp, rebuilding bombed railroad lines.

Given the circumstances, the family’s avoidance of deportation to the concentration camps in the east was miraculous. In 1944, at war’s end, he attended medical school at Heidelberg University. At the time there was a shortage of medical residents in the USA. A program inviting German students to America was created to help normalize relations.

Ulrich was among the first participants, becoming an intern at Muhlenberg Hospital, New Jersey. There he met Ruth DeMeza, a nurse. They married in 1953.

In 1955 he began to work at St. Raphael’s hospital in New Haven. He became a professor of Orthopedics at Yale University, and in 1959 founded a private practice called the New Haven Orthopaedic Group (later Connecticut Orthopedic Specialists). After thirty years of private practice, he became Medical Director of Yale-New Haven Hospital’s Emergency Department.

He also served in community roles, including Town of Orange Health Inspector. He attended orthopedic Grand Rounds at Yale Hospital until he was 90 years old.

He and Ruth settled in Orange in 1959, and raised three children: Christa, Ulrich, and Claudia. In his free time he loved reading history, swimming, and writing. He is the author of a medical textbook and many papers, including one exploring the medical condition of Toulouse-Lautrec.

He was a man of keen intelligence, deep morals, and unwavering commitment to the health of his patients and training of his students. In his retirement, Ulrich and Ruth moved to Branford, where he remained until his death.

At his wishes, his remains were donated to the first-year anatomy students at the Yale Medical School.

He leaves behind Ruth, his wife of 63 years, daughter Christa Weil and her husband Dean, daughter Claudia Esposito and her husband Andrew, son Ulrich Weil, and grandchildren Alexander, Niko, Christa, Claire, Madeline, Timothy, Andrew and Matthew.

A memorial service will take place on Saturday August 6 at the Turtle Bay Condominium Clubhouse, 1 Turtle Bay Drive, Branford, from 11:00 to 2:00. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Dr. Weil’s honor to the Ct. Hospice Development Office, Branford Home Care, 100 Double Beach Road, Branford, CT 06405.

Orange Live

Obituary: Kenneth Leaf, 74, Commander American Legion Post 127, Orange

Obituary: Ulrich Hans Weil, MD, 93, Former Orange Health Inspector