Leonard Lecht

Leonard A. Lecht, 90, of Taos, NM, passed away on February 9, 2011. He is preceded in death by his wife, Jane Lecht, his parents, Harry and Sarah Lecht, and by six of his siblings, Esther Lecht, Alice Koret, Bertha Lecht, Sophie Golin, Samuel Lecht, and Morris Lecht. He is survived by his son, David Jonathan Lecht of Los Alamos, and by his sister, Mrs. Goldie Marinsky of Providence, RI. He is also survived by many nieces and nephews scattered throughout the United States. Lechts parents migrated from Eastern Europe shortly before World War I. They settled in Providence, RI. Lecht was the youngest of eight children. Lecht was a writer, researcher and professor of economics. He wrote a number of books and government reports about economics including Goals, Priorities, and Dollars, (1967); and Occupational Choices and Training Needs, (1977). Lecht was involved with many public agencies including congressional committees and other national bodies. Lecht received in BA in sociology in 1942 from the University of Minnesota. He shortly thereafter entered the army and saw service in the Normandy invasion, the liberation of Paris, and the Battle of the Bulge. After the war ended, he entered Columbia University under the GI Bill. There he majored in economics and received a PhD. His first full-time teaching position was in 1949 at the University of Texas, in Austin. While in Texas he met his future wife, Jane Gillespie. Jane was an editor and writer. They were married in 1951. The Lechts left Texas when Mr. Lecht took the position as chairman of the economics department at Long Island University. They moved in the early 1960s, when he became Director of the Center for Priority Analysis at the National Planning Association in Washington, D.C. The Centers research was underwritten by the Ford Foundation, the United States Department of Labor, the National Science Foundation, and the US Office of Education. While with the Center, Lecht also taught at Temple University in Philadelphia. In the early 1970s, he joined the Conference Board in New York City as director of Special Projects Research. The Conference Board is an economic and business research organization. While in New York, Lecht also taught at the New School for Social Research. Mr. Lecht retired in 1990 when the Lechts moved to Taos, where three of Janes aunts had moved shortly after WWII. The Lechts preferred Taos to Florida, where many of their New York friends and relatives had retired. Lecht served as a consultant to the Taos County Commission and taught at UNM-Taos. The Lechts were fond of travel, particularly to China and Mexico. They attended many plays and musical events. Mr. Lecht was an avid photographer. Mrs. Lecht excelled in crossword puzzles. They were both voracious readers, reading a range of subjects from history to murder mysteries. Anyone wishing to make a gift should give to their favorite cause. Gifts may also be made to the Jane Lecht Scholarship Fund at the Taos Jewish Center, 1335 Gusdorf Road, Suite R, Taos, NM 87571. Memorial Services will be held on Sunday, February 20, 2011, at 3 p.m. at Taos Retirement Village, 414 Camino de la Placita, Taos, NM.