Leo Pilibosian Obituary

Leo was born as Levon Pilibosian in Havana, Cuba on July 20, 1932 to Martin Pilibosian and Mary Jamgochian.  Leo spoke Armenian in the home and subsequently learned Spanish and English.  He worked in his father's shoe repair store turned pawn shop;  The Pilibosian Family resided above the store. Leo had many happy memories of the beautiful beaches and wonderful tropical weather in Cuba.

Leo, his brother Gerald, with their mom and dad immigrated to the US in 1947.  He was 16 years old and spent a year in the Boston, Massachusetts area attending high school.  After the school year ended, he and his brother joined their parents in Fresno, California.  Leo attended Fresno High School his junior and senior years.  Immediately, Leo fulfilled his dream to play baseball.  He was selected to play pro baseball for the Fresno Cardinal affiliate team, but asked to be traded as he wanted more play time.  Leo ended up in Tennessee playing 2nd and 3rd base positions for two teams in the Appalachian League.  Leo's baseball career was interrupted after his first season when he was drafted into the army at age 19.  He served in the Korean War stationed in Germany.  He spent most of his time playing for the baseball and football teams.  After his two years of service, Leo returned to ball playing in Tennessee for another 2 seasons.

Leo moved back home to Fresno to settle down and met his future wife Marlene Ovoian.  He told a story that he saw Marlene walking downtown and said he was going to marry her. They wed October 25, 1956 and had 3 girls,  Leslie, Joanna and Diana. The athlete had no boys, but taught his girls baseball and had them all enroll in golf lessons.  He would take the girls to the track at Fresno State without warning and timed their laps. He kept their stats on a sheet of paper on a clipboard. There were many clipboards with various stats around the garage for instance, how often he mowed and edged the yard by season.  He was efficient and was not going to perform a task a day sooner than needed.  Of course, the girls helped clean up grass clippings and assisted dad with any other yard chores or home projects.

Leo was employed by the post office from approx 1957 - 1987.  Most of his career was spent as a clerk sorting mail.   Although he did have other jobs as well as being a manager for a time.   He was known for the crazy two toned suede shoes he wore on payday.

Leo continued to play baseball with the post office team and other organized leagues well into his 40s.  He also took up golf and played 3 days a week consistently until his early 80's.  It made him happy that his wife did not mind and never nagged him about playing golf. Leo made many friends at the golf course and won many tournaments.  At one point he was as low as a 7 handicap and he made at least 2 holes-in-ones over his lifetime.

Leo retired early at age 55, after 30 years with the Post Office.  He kept busy by golfing and taking over the grocery shopping duty.  Searching for the lowest prices on items was a game he enjoyed. When daughter Diana had her kids, he took joy in taking care of his grandsons, picking them up from school, taking them to swim lessons, t-ball, etc.

Leo lost his wife of 65 years Marlene in March of 2022.  After, he moved into a retirement community at Pacifica where he quickly made a very nice group of friends.  He thrived in the environment learning card games, playing bingo and taking outings with friends to dinner.

Leo was known for his quiet nature, kindness to others, his odd and dry sense of humor and his love of family.  He lived a very full and long life of 91 years filled with many funny and wonderful stories too numerous to share in this short snippet of his life.  Leo was loved by his family and many friends.  He will leave a void in our hearts.