Dr. Robert Leonard

Dr. Robert Leonard passed away in Bluffton, South Carolina on July 5, 2019 after a long battle with multiple illnesses.

He was born in Columbus, Georgia on March 14, 1938. Bob is survived by his wife, partner and best friend, Linda Di Santo.

Bob received his B.S. and MD degree from Emory University. He completed his surgical internship at Emory and completed his first year of general surgery residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.

Bob joined the US Air Force and was stationed in Fort Worth, Texas for a year. He then was sent to Vinh Binh Province in Viet Nam. On arrival he was the 60th American in the province along with 420,000 Vietnamese. He became the commander of a 19 member medical team comprised of four doctors, 12 corpsman and three nurses. He was awarded the commendation medal with “V” device for valor and also the National Order of Vietnam Grand Officer medal. Over the next three years he finished his General Surgical residency at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. From there, Bob completed his Plastic Surgery residency at Emory University. He was board-certified in general surgery as well as plastic surgery. He practiced plastic surgery in Atlanta, Georgia for 29 years before an unfortunate surgical infection forced his retirement. Atlanta magazine recognized Bob as one of the 200 top doctors in Atlanta. His retirement allowed him to focus on the things he loved which include photography, golf and gardening. At one time, he had over 700 azaleas and camellia bushes while residing in Atlanta. Shortly after retiring, Bob and his wife Linda, moved to Bluffton, SC. They spent many wonderful hours playing golf together. Linda, his loving wife became as enthusiastic as he. They even won a few golf tournaments together.

He will forever be remembered for being a wonderful and informed conversationalist who enjoyed the finer things in life, his wife, friends, plants, animals (especially dogs) and golf.

In lieu of flowers, a donation in his name would be appreciated to Palmetto Animal League. A private memorial service will be held at Striffler-Hamby Funeral Home in Columbus, Georgia at a later date.

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