Leonard Lee Newby, the son of Laurel Lee and Helen Bernice (Lewis) Newby was born February 14, 1949 at Prineville, Oregon and passed away at his home in Yukon, surrounded by his family on Wednesday, October 9, 2013, making his age 64 years 7 months and 25 days.

Leonard was united in marriage to Brenda Sue Powell, on August 8, 1970. To their union two children were born, Linus Lee and Holly Sheree.

Leonard was a member of the United States Army and was an expert marksman. He was a member of Valley Center Baptist Church. He also was instrumental in the design of Valley Center Cemetery, which included designing and drafting the plot map and marking each plot with a brass tag.

He started Ozark Mountain Long Rifle Gun Club and was a lifetime member. He built several muzzle-loaders and was a master gun builder and trained two apprentice gunsmiths. He was an avid hunter and enjoyed the outdoors hunting and fishing. He built a cabin on his land he loved in Lewis Hollow, and enjoyed spending time with family and friends. He was a jack of many trades. He cut cordwood for Craig Charcoal, hauled logs in the State of Washington and Missouri. He worked for a while as a truck driver. He worked at Jackson Grocery as a butcher, and at MFA Feed Store in Summersville. He worked as a carpenter who could build anything he wanted. Leonard also worked as a resource technician and retired from the Missouri Department of Conservation in June 2010, after 29 years of service.
He loved teaching his grandchildren, nieces and nephews how to hunt and fishing, but most of all how to respect guns.

Leonard Newby was a master artist in long rifle making in the Missouri Folk Arts Program's Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program in 2008 and 2010.