Bishop Adna Wright Leonard I (November 2, 1874 – May 3, 1943) was a Methodist bishop in Buffalo, New York, and the first chairman of the Methodist Commission on Chaplains. He was killed in 1943 in a plane crash on his way to Iceland to visit Methodist chaplains and their troops.

Biography

He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 2, 1874, to Adna Bradway Leonard (1837–1916) and Caroline (Kaiser) Leonard (1840–1899). He was elected bishop in 1916. He married Mary Luella Day (1873–1956) on October 9, 1901, and had the following children: Adna Wright Leonard II (1904–1986); and Phyllis Day (Leonard) Budd (1907–2002). He was elected to the episcopacy of the Methodist Episcopal Church at the 1916 General Conference. He served in San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.

Death

Leonard was killed on May 3, 1943, in the crash of the B-24 Liberator Hot Stuff at Fagradalsfjall in Iceland where he was traveling on his way to Iceland to visit Methodist chaplains and their troops. Thirteen other people were killed in the plane crash, including Lieutenant General Frank Maxwell Andrews and Brigadier General Brigadier General Charles H. Barth Jr.

Career