Friday, May 10, 2013

George M. Leader, former Governor of the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, died in Hershey, Pennsylvania yesterday at the age of 95.

Leader’s death, at a retirement community he and his wife founded in 1985, comes after the former governor suffered a short illness. The community’s spokeswoman, Kelly S. Kuntz, announced Leader’s death.

Leader was born in York County, Pennsylvania in 1918. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1939, he joined his father’s poultry business. Shortly thereafter, in World War II, Leader served as an ensign in the U.S. Navy.

After serving in the State Senate for four years, Leader, a Democrat, was elected Governor of Pennsylvania in the 1954 election. Sworn-in in 1955, he served as Governor until 1959.

Upon taking office at the age of 37, Leader became the second-youngest Governor of Pennsylvania behind Robert E. Pattison, who was 32 years old at his 1883 inauguration.

Current Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett mandated state flags be flown at half staff until the evening of Leader’s burial. Corbett also praised Leader, describing him as someone who “defied political labels and conventional thinking in his tireless work for Pennsylvania and its people.”

Former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell also commented on Leader’s death, saying he would be remembered as “a man who cared very deeply about what happened around him.”