his friends called him t
call him t

Thomas J. Leonard
Founder, CoachVille/School of Coaching

July 31, 1955 - February 11, 2003

It is with great sadness we inform you our leader, founder, coach
and friend Thomas, died suddenly of a heart attack on
February 11, 2003 at his home in Phoenix, Arizona.

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How to find the words,

   at such a time as this?

How to express our feelings of

  how much you will be missed?

You were such an inspiration--

  a purveyor of education

You encouraged us all to investigate

  and excavate our limitations

Thomas J. Leonard

1957 - 2003

Oh Lamentation!

  Our cries

      echo deep

        into the night.........

Esther Chambers

It is with great sadness that we have to say goodbye so prematurely to

Thomas Leonard...such a wonderful leader, mentor, and coach. What an amazing legacy he leaves.  Hopefully we can keep his light shining,

honor his ideals and ethics and carry his vision forward by ensuring our

contributions to making coaching a most honorable profession.

With compassion and deepest sympathy,

Anita Bakker

Thomas had integrity. I was just listening to his

coach-the-coach tapes when the news came. His caring

and compassion, as well as his formidable insight,

came through loud and clear.  He was unique and I'm

not sure he realized how much came from his talent and

could not be taught.

--

Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D. Author, Career Coach, Speaker

Sincere and loving condolences for Thomas's family and colleagues.  He was an inspirational leader, coach and mentor.  I never met him but loved the constant support and messages from Coachville, so many ideas, resources and things to try.  I will always know that my coaching improved and will continue to improve because of his visionary ideas.  What a special man, a man to touch our hearts and minds.

Bronwyn Kirkwood

Deputy Principal

Hercules Road State School

bronwyn.kirkwood@hercroadss.qld.edu.au

Sad news for all of us and we will miss his dynamic inspiration. Thomas left

a legacy developing a new profession, being a model and planting many seeds

of what is possible for every human being. I feel that he must have sense

  ...

Mission accomplished! ....bye.

I Join prayers for Thomas and his family.

Maria Elena Marquez

Reaching Excellence

Coaching & Training

I am so sorry to hear about the sudden and sad news.   May God provide Thomas' family with strength to cope with his untimely demise.

Doreen Teo

Singapore

I have only just recently joined the site, but I was astounded that this

had happened. My thoughts are with his family and colleagues.

Regards

Debbie West

Many Blessings Thomas

For a life well lived

For making brilliant contributions to so many lives

For thinking outside the box

For embracing new paradigms

For evolving the field of coaching

For deep listening

For curiosity

For inspiring conscious change and participation

For knowing how to ask the question

For your dedication to my success

For your playfulness

For your sensitivity

For Leadership

For integrity

For humility

Thank you

You will be remembered

As a man with vision

A man of influence

A man of generosity

As a man who cared!

Vidya McNeill

Akasha Consulting Resources

Thankyou  for  touching  me  so  deeply.

Thankyou  for  your  extraordinary  work  in  catalysing  the  coaching

movement  throughout  the  world.

Thankyou for  your   generosity  in  making  your  work  so  freely

available  to  so  many.

Perhaps  it's  true  that  the  good  die  young.

Godspeed  Thomas,

A brief shining light. Wow. This is a shock and a loss. He will leave a

long-lasting and powerful legacy. I will miss him.

With a heart full of blessings and gratitude, I bid you adieu.

Your gifts will continue to fall like blossoms on the world for many years

to come.

Thank you Thomas, farewell.

    Melanie McGhee, LCSW

I remember him sending me an e-mail telling me he was taking a vacation, and had attached a picture of his little white fluffy dog.  It was so cute, and I congratulated him on taking a breather and practicing what coaching teaches--extreme self care.  This man made his life really count!

With Much Love and appreciation,

Paula Kerr

Thomas,

I could never begin to fill your shoes, but I can continue to be inspired in the direction you headed, by the unapologetic way you showed up in a very big way every single day doing what you loved and, as a result, profoundly affected the world because of who you are.  Your energy, spirit and enthusiasm continues to be infectious and will affect generations around the globe for decades to come.

Your name will always be associated with the industry you helped to create and continue to lead, through the prolific work you produced and the impact on the sheer numbers of people you touched - we will continue to carry the torch you lit so brightly!

I consider myself so fortunate to have been a trusted friend and confidant. You encouraged and inspired me to find myself, my path, my passion, but not because you wanted to change me or had an ideal mold in which I should fit, only because you wanted me to see within myself the things you saw and trusted that I possessed.

Humanity is indebted to you for seeing in all people what we could only hope for ourselves, and helping to guide people to believe in themselves and reach for their dreams.

Your shoes are now empty, but will continue to walk beside all peoples helping to show them their individual paths and inspiring them to believe in themselves.

I will sorely miss you, but will continue to be inspired by your friendship, wisdom, vision and caring.

Love,

Michael Cooper

Dear Thomas:

This is an everlasting THANK YOU, everyday, for helping me find the

profession  of a lifetime, to expand the joy of a life well lived and

recognized as such.  More so,for the tools to share it and the

community with which to rejoice.

Bless you and your work,

Andrea Feinberg

Thomas:

Aunque personalmente no te conocí, te he llegado a sentir como mi hermano,

como mi hermano mayor.  Para mi eres alguien cercano que me ha enseñado

mucho, con sus obras, sus pensamientos y su ejemplo...

Mi corazón se entristece porque nunca podré verte y agradecerte lo que

hiciste por mi vida y lo que a traves de mi indirectamente tambien has

beneficiado a mis clientes... pero estoy seguro que en el otro plano, Dios

ha de tener un lugar muy especial para ti...

Muchas gracias Thomas, Dios te bendiga y mientras yo viva tendrás un lugar

muy especial tambien en mi corazón...

Alejandro C. Martínez.

I take a few moments to express my deepest sympathy to the Coaching Community for the death of our exceptional leader and human being, Thomas J. Leonard.

He achieved so much in so little time that I am still surprised by his achievement.

Keeping up his level of work is, indeed, a challenge, which we must meet in his honor .

Thomas will certainly live in our memories forever.  I encourage you to mention his name frequently in your programs and correspondence.   Naming the organization "Thomas J. Leonard's Coachville" could be a good starter.

May he rest in peace with the Lord.

Antonio F. Granados

San Juan, Puerto Rico

At the turn of my career I decided to venture into coaching. And there I found Coachville and began my journey of learning to become a coach under the great inspirer Mr Thomas . His inspiration will continue to motivate me in the coaching arena.

Chin M C

How I feel about  Founder of Coachville, Thomas J. Leonard

It is a shock, Peter & myself had wanted to meet this great man who has

given so much to so many people; we had wanted to attend one of his many

seminars around States and was hoping he could come to S'pore because we

could not make it there.

We have not met him and just by receiving Coachville's email constantly

reminds us how Coaching has evolved and applying it has helped so much in

transforming our lives, he has left a legacy where in our part of the world,

we are touched by his sharing of great coaching skills which made a

difference in both our personal as well as our professional lives.  Most of

all - who we become!

It is indeed a great loss to us all.

With Deepest Sympathy & Heartfelt Condolences to his family of the late

Thomas J Leonard

From:

Dolly Yeo/Peter Koh

Coachville Members

Thank you Thomas, your life was well lived.

May your journey continue to be blessed.

Thomas was infectious.  The moment you met him you wanted more....to feel

his energy, insight and share his dreams of making this world a better

place, even one person at a time.  I will miss him, both for the man I

knew briefly and the one I wish I had the opportunity to know better.

Rest in peace, Thomas and know your legacy remains strong and very much

alive.

Donna Karlin

 

Thomas Leonard was the brightest and purest light in the coaching industry.  Let us all pledge  that the we, as coaches who benefited so much from his wisdom and inspiration, continue to keep that light bright and pure.

My deepest sympathy to his family and friends in a loss that is felt by us all.

Wendy Buckingham

There is nothing more that I can say than "Thank You, Thomas".  I wouldn't have found my lifework if you hadn't found yours.  I hope you are truly at rest, your work complete.

Angela Sutliffe

I can't remember the last time I read an e-mail and my jaw just dropped.

I've had many back-and-forths with Thomas and we certainly haven't always

seen eye-to-eye -- yet his contribution in growing coaching is

unparalleled. To see someone who has been phenomenally productive and, by

all accounts, vibrant and full of life is truly shocking.

I hope we can all take the loss of Thomas as a reminder to live fully now!

and to embrace each other in our shared love of coaching and making a

difference in people's lives.

Cheers, Billy

Billy Strean, PhD, Certified Professional Co-Active Coach

Custom Coaching

I would like to send condolences to the friends and family of Thomas 

Leonard.

I have never met him but he has influenced my life in so many astounding ways

by his mission to coaches and his coachville family.

You will be deeply missed.

But your legacy lives on in every coach!

On Tuesday you died suddenly after we had spent all of Friday

and Saturday together in a room with no windows that slowly

filled with the light of your creative genius, the light of our

realization as we were awakened to the possibilities. I left

elevated to a new, higher intensity of committment and certainty.

I went home to my office and began to apply my desire thru

actions that I had been previously avoiding.

Today, as I sat at my computer writing the description for an

idea I had shared with you, (and that you clearly liked) doing so

from the perspective of what you taught me, I heard the ding of

my email. You have crossed over and left us on our own.

You are gone to the nether region of light and consciousness. I

am sad to a degree that is surprising in its intensity,

unrelenting in its presence and easily provoked by imagining what

is lost with your leaving. You will be hugely missed, perpetually

influential and long remembered by a world of people who

experienced your direct effect.

I am pissed that you are so quickly gone after I just arrived at

the party. I was looking forward to every opportunity to absorb,

apply and evolve from, the creative output you would generate. A

true discovery occurred Friday and Saturday and I feel robbed. I

am truly crushed by this loss.

I have met and followed several great beings. I have studied the

tradition of great beings and I have aspired to develop at least

the potential to become a great being. You, Thomas, were...are...

will always be...a great being. Your influence extends to

thousands of people and will continue to grow over time and will

continue to influence my own development as a person, a coach and

a leader of ideas and inspiration.

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to be there for your

last dance. You were magnificent, inspiring, reassuring, uplift-

ing and a joy to be with for those two days...in the windowless

room full of light and energy. I am grateful that I risked

dancing with you...throwing out my ideas for all to hear and for

you to judge. You were magnificent in your honest praise and

encouragement of my ideas. I am grateful that I got close to

your flame by speaking with you directly and hearing you

encourage me. I am crushed by your sudden death.

I know this territory well. I am familiar with the terrain of

sudden loss. I am curious to know if you knew at the time that

your last in-breath was imminent. Had you thought about it, would

you have had regrets? I hope not. I hope you were certain of the

quality and reach of your life and living, and reassured by your

legacy.

I left that two days loving you, loving coaching, loving being

a coach. I am eternally grateful that I have been burned by your

flame. I will miss you tremendously.

Nancy Moynihan M.Ed., LPC

Your passing leaves a hole in the Universe - one which I am not making

much sense of. What might have been is only made up for what you have

left - a legacy worthy of ten lives and more.

The despair I feel dims quickly as I too resolve to continue coaching

work and take it to new levels. I am spurred to achieve more, think

more, feel more, live more.

Thank you for the inspiration, guidance, and showing the bright and

beautiful present, and the brilliant possibilities.

Zoë Hebert

Outward Bound Australia

The legacy of Thomas Leonard is that he left this world

 a much better place than the  world  to which he was born into.

He is to be included among those individuals who made a difference.

My condolences are being extended to Thomas Leonard's "Coaching Family"

and Coaching.

I was so saddened to hear of Thomas J. Leonard's death at such a young age.

He has gone to a better place.

Love and peace to his close family and friends.

Jazz Singh

from the United Kingdom

You'll be rememered fondly. 

Serge Blinder

You were a truly great visionary. You will continue to inspire all of us

who have been blessed to have known you in any way.

Roger Thompson

I received the news of Thomas Leonard's death  just a few minutes ago.  I can't imagine what you must be feeling right now.  You have my heartfelt prayer that you may find  strength  during this incredible time of loss.       Although I did not know Mr. Leonard personally, I benefited every day from his wisdom and tremendous efforts, and feel as though we've lost our brightest star in the coaching world.

With my deepest sympathy,

Gina Ripple

Professional Certified Career Coach

I am shocked at the news of Thomas's passing - he was so young and vibrant

and someone that I looked at as a role model of a great, caring coach. I am

especially glad that I took the opportunity to attend the Coachville

coaching conference in Las Vegas last march to have the experience of his

presence. He was and will still be an inspiration in my coaching and how I

do life! Thank you, Thomas, for following your dreams. I believe you have left behind

an impressive legacy and I wish you peace and happiness, wherever you are.

How very sad to hear the news of Thomas Leonard's death.   I have savored all his words of wisdom and his teachings and I will miss him and what he offered to the coaching community.  He truly was a man of quality and honor.  I will miss him as a teacher and coach. 

Gloria M. Reiske, LCSW

I am so sincerely sorry for all of you in the closest ripples of this tremendous loss.

Sadly,

This floored me --- because I'm a nobody, and we (he and I) just had an

email conversation on Monday.

A heart-attack? 

What's even sadder is that I actually have a list of things he wanted to

accomplish in 2003 (Life Designer 2003 example.  He was planning an amazing

year.

I think I'll take his list, and do some of his things as a remembrance of

him.

Laura Rose

Thomas,

You once said that your goal was to become a "perfect" human being.  It seems you achieved that goal far earlier than even you would have imagined!

Thank you for your passion, dedication, and commitment to the field of Personal Coaching.  We will all miss you as we carry on your dream.

Traci Vujicich

Thomas,

If The Purpose of a Man's Life is to live it in such a way that he helps his

fellow men then you have achieved that purpose, in fewer years than many,

and better I suspect than many will achieve no matter how many years they

may have.

Although I never met you I am been greatly impressed upon by your energy,

your vocation and your generosity. May those whom you have worked with in

this life continue to be inspired by your memory.

Stay always in the Love of God, however you may have recognised Him.

We experienced something tremendous in our relationship over the years.  I will

cherish these memories as the  wonderful gift of our friendship.  You will live

on in my heart forever.  No doubt we will hear of  top 10's from your crossing

over. 

Love in friendship,

My tears, my pain and my silence is with you...

Namaste!

Samy chong

Toronto

Although we never met in the flesh I feel - through your many gifts to

coaching and this community - I know you well.

Your shining example of service and ingenuity challenged and emboldened to

be my best, to give my best and to serve this work I so love, and recognized

the value at both ends of the equation in new and deeper ways.

Through your gifts of sharing and inviting sharing my creativity has been

sparked and nourished, and my dreams fed.

Through your exceptional leadership I have embraced my ability to lead by

serving from my heart.

Thank you for your gifts.  I've been changed and made more by them all.

Love, hugs & gratitude,

Thomas personified Inspiration. By example Thomas gave so many of us a real

life example of how courageous self discovery

can lead to great things. A Visionary, an innovator, a leader and yet at the

same time a vulnerable and accessible human being. As much as he will be

missed, his legacy will continue to serve and inspire so many individuals in

the years to come.

Thomas,

Your star will always shine in the world through your gifts to coaching. You may have been a rascal, but a true angel nonetheless. You will be missed.

With deep respect,

Marcia Reynolds

Without you Thomas coaching would never have happened.  I am so thankful that you inspired me to achieve my Present Perfect, and now you are at your next level, keep on keeping on and as always, COACHING LEADS TO SUCCESS

Yours in Coaching

PaTrisha Anne Todd

To Thomas: