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Where is Waldo (Leo) ?


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Hi!

 

My name is John Dalton, and as you can probably tell by my chosen user name, I am the "Son of Leo". First off, I want to tell you all how much discovering this thread has meant to me. Obviously, it's been about two months since my fathers passing, and in the hustle and bustle of estate, funeral, family, paperwork and small business ownership etc, it's taken me a while to get affairs in order.

 

But I will tell you all one thing... Discovering this thread and this community has really touched home in a way that I had not expected...

 

Allow to explain:

 

My father was, by trade passion and sole existence, a pilot. It was his first love. That's who my father was! "Captain" Leo F. Dalton of USAirways. It was all I had known him to be growing up and all that he had ever done!

 

About 10 years ago, he could no longer fly due to some medical issues that he was having. He was put on long term disability and that was essentially the end of his aviation career. For the past while he moved from hobby to hobby, keeping himself busy and learning what he could about whatever he could get his hands on. First it was trap shooting, then it was astronomy and then somehow, he got into Concertina's.

 

Perhaps it was remnants of his youth in which he played the Accordion, or perhaps the fascination with such a simple and elegant instrument appealed to him. To be perfectly honest, my father was not what you would call "musically proficient". But I'll tell you what, he simply loved playing the little that he could on his Concertina, as well as the community on this forum. He would tell me, from time to time, the people whom he had met. Professionals in various industries who you would never expect to find here (I believe there was a developer for Power Point as well as an Animator from Pixar who hang out here). Stories of the various styles and his annoyance at the so-called "ornamentation" in certain players (He called them intentional mistakes).

 

As I stated, my father was not exactly a musician, which in all honesty is why he posted so many videos. It was his way of contributing and being a part of this community of players. He really loved scouring the internet, finding videos and how too's and sharing knowledge. That was my father, really... Living by the adage and creed: Those that can, do, and those that can't, teach. He was a teacher. It had always been said that if you asked Leo the time, he would build you a clock and tell you how it worked and WHY it was the time in which you were asking for.

 

It really wasn't until I stumbled across this thread, that I had realized how much HE had meant to the community by his contributions. I had initially sent an email through my fathers email account to the admin of the site informing him of his passing in hopes that the word would get around. Being on a great deal of modding and hacking forums, it's always a bummer when some major contributor just ups and disappears leaving everyone wondering "what happened". So I had sent out the email before I even knew there was a thread dedicated to my father! Finally a few days ago, I checked his e-mail account and remembered that I had sent the initial email, which in turn led me to this thread. For some reason, it just hit me at the right time and really made me go "Huh, cool!" at the admiration that my father had earned on this forum. I had no idea how popular he was, or his contributions to this community.

 

It was because of that, I decided to create an account and just kind of give him a send off and say "thanks" to all of you for the kind words towards him. It really honestly and truly meant a great deal to know how much he meant to all of you. It was like discovering another world of my Fathers that I had never really known about!

 

If you folks have any questions, or just want to share stories of him, or whatever you like, feel free to "AMA"! I'll be happy to supply any details or information that I can, and perhaps some of you can convince me to pick up ANOTHER instrument to my collection!

 

And who knows, perhaps I'll learn a bit more about my father in the process!

 

I hope this adds a bit of closure for some of you, if any was needed. I just felt that you all should know my father just a bit more :-) Feel free to crosspost this to the "passing of Leo (He Posted Youtube Videos) thread. I just chose the thread with the most posts for this.

 

Thanks again!

 

-John, Son of Leo

Nice to hear from you John.

Here is a little musical tribute which I did for your dad and you will see that Dirge in New Zealand has played a a rather nice fresh version of Nimrod, without the summer day background noises!

http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=14384

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John - so glad you found us. And thanks for the additional information about Leo. One of the strange things about forums is that you can correspond with people, or even just "lurk" for some time without any idea about what other members of the group really do in life other than indulge in your own pet hobby (perversion? ;)). It's not always the case that you get to know them in "real life" (whatever that may be) in view of the vast area in the world that members are spread across. So it was good to hear a little more about him.

 

The only thing I really knew of Leo was his weekly postings, our one or two exchanges of views, his self description in his profile (which amused me ... loved the description of his playing of his concertina, in describing the annoying habit of the keys in moving around ), and his avatar.

 

You say that you haven't seen it. It was actually designed by one of the group, who goes under the name of LDT on here - actually a young lady from Essex called Sarah who is a graphic artist in real life. She has designed avatars for several of us on here, usually with some link to name, personality or appearance. I am lucky enough to have one myself . I have discussed your comments with her on Facebook, and we agreed that I provide you with a link which I have found to a larger depiction of the picture than appears on the thumbnail postings here. (It also comprises their correspondence about the pic in 2009 ) :)

 

 

http://www.concertin...opic=8907&st=36

 

Hope this satisfies your curiosity. (And by the way, although I posted that he had changed his avatar picture , I was incorrect. His personal picture on his profile was the picture of his concertina - his avatar was still the lion cartoon by the looks of it. )

 

All the best

 

Irene Shettle

Edited by Irene S
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This is very sad. Leo's weekly listing was the first thing I looked for when I logged in. He saved me, and I suspect many others, a great deal of time by his diligence. He will be sadly missed. And he was so young (well younger than me). My heart goes out to his family.

 

Chris

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I'd just like to add my condolences to Leo's family for their loss. Like many here I have found Leo's postings a great source of entertainment, education and fun. He will be missed.

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  • 1 month later...

I've been away for a while and just found this thread. Leo was a lovely man and we chatted by PM now and again. I found LDT's Avatar, it's attached.

 

Farewell Leo, you'll be sorely missed.

 

Pete.

 

 

 

Hello

 

I really miss Leo, who can bring us the latest videos?

 

superbeta

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