At the age of 21, fresh out of school, Leahy applied for and obtained the position that he has maintained to the age of 57.
Now, after 35 years of nights and weekends at Western, Leahy has decided to retire which becomes official on Feb. 29.
In November of 1972 Coordinator of Technical Operations and Public Services, Rick Leahy, was first interviewed by Western.
Leahy is a native of New Jersey and attended Oklahoma City University from 1969 to 1973.
The technical director at OCU had a son-in-law who was chairman of the Western communications department where they were creating a new position of coordinator.
Leahy has chaired the campus campaign for United Way and has been involved with community arts programs, but his greatest achievements have been two presidential citation awards from Western. He has also received awards from student organizations for his outstanding service.
One of Leahy’s biggest achievements is being able to maintain a reputation of committing to a project and always seeing it through.
Sharon Gray is director of Vocal Studies and admires Leahy’s dedication.
“He was always there when we needed him for concerts and recitals,” Gray said.
There were many changes that happened during his career here. Leahy witnessed how Western went from a manual lighting system to a computerized system. He had the first desktop computer on campus.
The flood of ‘93 is a time Leahy remembers well when Western was working closely with the Air National Guard.
“We were the airport, treatment facility, fire protection facility and many other resources during the flood, and those few weeks were very interesting,” Leahy said.
Leahy has had many duties here at Western. He schedules and coordinates the use of Potter Theatre and Lobby. He maintains and repairs theatrical equipment and sound systems. Leahy has also had much to do with sporting events from running the scoreboards to fixing them. He is presently producing Web-cast done by athletics in both football and basketball.
After retiring, Leahy plans on resting for a while.
“I’m going to take it easy for a while and see how quick I get bored,” Leahy said. He has plans to volunteer for the Red Cross to stay busy.
Leahy and his dedication to his work will be missed by many.
Jeff Hinton is the assistant professor of music here at Western and he will dearly miss Leahy.
“I will miss watching football in his office on Sunday afternoon during intermission of our band concerts,” Hinton said.
Leahy’s favorite author is Tom Clancy, and he still loves the ‘60’s music like Peter, Paul, and Mary.
He will be leaving wonderful memories for all the people who have worked for him, but he will not take going lightly.
“I look forward to checking in from time to time to see how things are going here at Western,” Leahy said.
With a new president and a new team, Leahy has a bright outlook for Western and hopes the best in its success.
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