Leonard Larry Harper, 93, of Port Neches Texas passed away Sunday September 4, 2022 at Harbor Hospice in Beaumont. Leonard was born to Thomas Jefferson Harper and Teenie Josephine (Singleton) Harper of Dry Creek Louisiana on September 30, 1928.
He was a member of Central Gardens Baptist Church in Nederland Texas. He also proudly served as a member of Gideon International and ran the food bank for his church, always helping others and spreading his Christian faith to all he encountered.
He graduated from Dry Creek High in 1945 and attended McNeese State University in Louisiana. He worked at the grain elevator in Louisiana until 1951, after college until he went to work for Atlantic Refinery in Port Arthur which became Fina where he retired in 1984 after 33 years. He then worked at Texas Air Freight for 2 years and finally at Barras as a safety manager for 15 years with a final retirement in 2002. He was a mason, a member of Sam Todd Lodge #182 in Sugartown, LA.
He fell in love with the one and only love of his life Margaret Edna VanKersen while working on her grandfather's farm cutting logs for his father’s saw mill. After much courting to ball games, fishing trips and church events he asked her to marry him in 1950. They began a family in Port Acres Texas and he was a proud father of two sons Larry Leonard and Preston Thomas that he adored dearly.
He is survived by his grandchildren; Blake Thomas Harper and Wife, Angela of Atlanta GA and Kayla Dell Harper of Port Neches TX. He is preceded in death by his parents, his brothers; James Leland (Buddy), Billie O’Neil, and Thomas Jefferson Jr. (Tommy): his wife, Margaret and his sons, Larry and Preston.
A Celebrations of Life will be held on September 9, 2022 at 11:00 AM at Clayton Thompson Funeral Home 5200 W. Parkway Street Groves, TX 77619, with a gathering of family and friends from 10:00 AM until service time. Burial will follow at Oak Bluff Memorial Park in Port Neches.