Dr. Leonard C"Lefty" Harlow

Dr. Leonard C. "Lefty" Harlow, Jr., 90, of Dover, Delaware, formerly of Gardner, died peacefully Monday, October 31, 2016 in his residence.
Born in Concord, NH on January 3, 1926, he was the son of the late Leonard C. Harlow, Sr. and Mabel W. (Merrill) Harlow.
Dr. Harlow graduated for Gardner High School with the Class of 1945. He received his Bachelor's Degree in Arts and History from Fitchburg State University in 1949, and in 1952 he received his Master's Degree in Education, also from Fitchburg State University. In 1970, he earned his Doctorate in Education from Boston University.
Dr. Harlow was a strong advocate for public education and spent many years as the first Principal of the former Gardner Junior High School before pursuing his Doctorate in Education. During his teaching career, he was a Professor at Boston University, Fitchburg State University and lastly at the University of Massachusetts Lowell where he taught for five years, prior to retiring in 1999.
He was a United States World War II Navy Veteran, and received the World War II Victory Medal, the American Area Medal, and the Asiatic Pacific Area Medal.
Dr. Harlow and his former wife, Gail C. Smith Harlow, were members of Annunciation Parish/Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church of Gardner. She predeceased him in 2014.
He was a sports enthusiast, especially of the Boston Red Sox. He enjoyed listening to Howie Carr on the radio and watching the daily news on television. Dr. Harlow spent his life as an active community citizen. He served as President of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, President of Gardner PTA, Historian for the Gardner 75th Anniversary, member of the Watertown Army Arsenal Re-Utilization Commission, member of the Sergeant William Harlow Family Association of Plymouth Plantation, member of the Board of Directors for Vermont Epilepsy Association, Vice President of Bangor, Maine Chapter of AARP, Secretary of Penobscot Valley TRIAD, member of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, and was a volunteer of Maine Air Museum in Bangor Maine and Cole Transportation Museum.
He will be fondly remembered by his four children; two sons, Leonard C. Harlow and his wife Julie of Newport, Maine and Jonathan A. Harlow of Boston; two daughters, Dr. Valerie Harlow Shinas and her husband Peter of Wellesley Hills and Melissa McCloud and her husband Timothy of Dover, Delaware; seven grandchildren, Angelina Shinas, Christina Tai, Stephanie Shinas, Stephanie Byrd, Ian McCloud, Noah Harlow and Dominick Harlow; three great-grandchildren, Eli, Noah, and Nora Tai; one niece, Betty Ann Hubacheck of Fort Mohave, AZ; and several cousins. He was predeceased by his sister, Betty Williams, who died in 1978.
Funeral Services will be held Monday, November 7th from the Boucher Funeral Home, Inc., 110 Nichols Street, Gardner with a Mass at 11:00 a.m. in Annunciation Parish/Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church, 135 Nichols Street, Gardner. Burial with full Military Honors will be in Green Bower Cemetery, Gardner.
A calling hour will be held Monday, November 7th from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in the funeral home.
Memorial contributions may be made to Delaware Hospice, 16 Polly Drummond Center, Second Floor, Newark, DE 19711.

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