On November 23, 2022, Leonard Marquez, of Pittsburg, California, passed away. He was seventy years old. Born to Henry and Ruth Marquez, Leonard graduated from Pittsburg Senior High School in 1971. Shortly afterward, he married his high school sweetheart Brenda Jennings. They were together for nearly twenty years and raised two children, their sons Leonard Enrique Marquez and Demetrio Angel Marquez.

After high school, Leonard worked at the Concord Naval Weapons Station before having a career as a draftsman. Later in life, he worked at the Delancey Street Foundation, both in San Francisco and New York.

In addition to his love of drawing and technical design, he had a wide range of interests. He especially loved all things outdoors—camping, hunting, shooting and sometimes just day trips and drives to unexplored locales. He enjoyed exploring far flung "country" areas of the state, especially the far northeastern parts of California around Burney and Fall River Mills, after his in-laws moved "up north" to retire. His sons remember fondly many family trips up north and the time walking the back trails, hunting and four wheeling.

He also loved cars and motorcycles. He rebuilt the engine in his old green Toyota truck. He enjoyed the height of early 1980s coolness when he bought his 1982 Camaro Z28. Later, his pride and joy was his Toyota 4Runner which saw many outdoor adventures, including more than a few intrepid four wheeling expeditions. His son Leonard recalls his father slow crawling the truck over washouts on steep mountain back roads and helping to extract the 4Runner from snowy iced over road ruts in the dead of winter.

Leonard was a big movie fan, especially the adventure films of classic Hollywood stars such as Errol Flynn in Robin Hood and Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan in 1930s and '40s. Just as much, he enjoyed documentaries, from war documentaries to his favorite science program, NOVA.

He was a teller of "tall tales." He enjoyed spinning yarns of his adventures, especially with the kids. In fact, he maintained for years to his own boys that he was the "stunt double" for Weissmuller in the Tarzan movies.

He enjoyed music and sports. He played football during his days at Pittsburg High. He also played the tuba in the much renowned Pittsburg High Marching Show Band. He used to tell stories of his changing from his football uniform into his band uniform to perform with the band at the half time of football games at Pirate Stadium. His taste in music was the classic rock of his era, including the likes of the Who, Led Zeppelin, Santana and Jimmy Hendrix.

He truly had an adventurous spirit. He has moved on to his next adventure and will be missed profoundly by his family and friends.

He leaves behind a large family with deep roots in Pittsburg and beyond. He is survived by his siblings Rachel, Yolanda, Anita and Vincent, his sons Leonard and Demetrio, his ex-wife Brenda, three grandchildren Enrique, Diego and Gabriel, as well as his nieces and nephews Jon, Mario, Tañia, Andreas, Sean, and Kimberly and the rest of his extended family.

The family is holding a celebration of life in the new year, on Saturday, January 28, 2023 (2:00 pm to 5:00 pm) at the Pittsburg Elks Lodge located at 200 Marina Blvd, Pittsburg, CA 94565.

In lieu of flowers, the family invites you to consider a donation to the Delancey Street Foundation, a residential substance abuse program that does impactful work in the Bay Area and beyond ( www.delanceystreetfoundation.org/support ).