Leonard Vincent Bednar, 84, of 304 North Turnpike Street, Mt. Carmel, passed unexpectedly on Friday, April 25th, 2025, in York Hospital.

Leonard was born in Mt Carmel on April 11, 1941, to Michael and Emerita (Doyle) Bednar. He was the third of four siblings and was preceded in death by his two older brothers, Michael (wife Sally) and Stephen (wife Patricia) Bednar. He is survived by his youngest sibling, Maureen Doyle (husband Tony Market), who resides in New York.

On December 16, 1972, Leonard married Mary Ann (Hayes). Together they shared 48 years of marriage until Mary Ann passed in 2021. They are survived by their daughter, Christian Ierley, her husband Shawn, and their son Brighton of Wellsville, PA.

In November of 1958, Leonard felt the call to service of his country. He served nine and a half years in the Army and achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant (E-6). While his time in Vietnam was difficult, the years he spent in Germany were some of the best of his life. If you ever had a chance to talk to him about his time in Germany, you could hear the love he had for the country in the stories he told. He learned German quickly from the civilians working with him in the Supply Depot (Stuttgart), and he was always eager to volunteer on deployments that would take him across Germany as well as other European countries.

After he fulfilled his military contract, Leonard returned to Mt. Carmel. He worked as a Mechanic for a local garage and Eureka Saw Co. During this time, he realized his love of fabrication. His fabrication abilities took him to Knoebels Amusement Resort, where he designed and created a complete machine shop with the sole purpose of manufacturing replacement parts for the park rides.

In the 1990s through 2003, Leonard owned and operated the Mt. Carmel Taxi Company. Leonard took great pride in serving his community and customers. He worked with Northumberland County to bring in low-cost ride-share programs to seniors across his service area. He will be remembered as a man always offering an arm to a customer with limited mobility, helping the seniors carry their groceries to the door, and staying late to get dialysis patients home after their treatments.

Leonard often said that the best job he ever had was being retired! He worked hard at that job and loved it. After working for so many years, he embraced retirement as the time to do what he wanted. He completely restored a 1951 Dodge DeSoto, which was his pride and joy.  He took lessons on wristwatch repair and specialized in pocket watches. He has a huge collection of pocket watches that he painstakingly brought back to life. Currently, he was in the middle of building a motorized tether airplane from scratch without instructions. He belonged to many of the clubs in Mt. Carmel but was particularly fond of the VFW and the West End Athletic Club. There are a few folks who brought an extreme amount of joy to Leonard, especially in his retirement years: Mike Brzostowski and his entire family, neighbor Ralph, the crew at Mostic Brothers, Joe Klokis, and Ray Kornacki. We thank you all for the years of friendship and love you gave to Leonard.

Funeral Mass will be held on Saturday, May 3, 2025, at 11 a.m. with Father Bernard Wamayose, A.J., officiating in Divine Redeemer Church, 300 W. Ave., Mt. Carmel. Burial will follow in All Saints Cemetery, Elysburg. Viewing will be held on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. with transferal prayers at 10 a.m. in the C J Lucas Funeral Home Inc., 27 N. Vine St., Mt. Carmel, C J Lucas IV, Supervisor. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Mike Rowe Works Foundation, www.mikeroweworks.org/donate or Divine Redeemer Church, 438 W. Ave., Mt. Carmel, PA 17851. To send condolences to the family, please visit www.cjlucasfuneralhome.com