Leon Samuel Keene, 74

Leon Samuel “Leprechaun” Keene, 74, passed away Dec. 27, 2013, in Kalispell. 

Leon was born Feb. 16, 1939, the third of eight children to Leona Margaret Keene and Arlo Thompson Keene in Bozeman. He graduated from Bozeman High School in 1958, where he had been active on the stage crew, DeMolay and Boy Scouts. After graduation, he was groundskeeper at Valley View Golf Course.

He moved to Southern California in the early 1960s, where he became a certified electrician and worked for McDonnell Douglas Aircraft and Central Lighting, and traveled with the Grand Land Singers doing their lighting and sound. He had a part in the movie “Little Cigars,” released in 1973, and played the Leprechaun in a movie about mountain men. Leon moved to Cody, Wyo. in the early 1990s where he worked as a side attraction at Buffalo Bill’s Museum in his mountain man outfit. He returned to Montana in 1996 where he resided in Whitefish. He was very active in the Mountain Men Rendezvous reenactment. He was known as the Leprechaun and for his homemade jams, jellies and beads he sold. 

He was preceded in death by his mother and father; brother, Harold Arlo “Weird Harold,” and sister, Margaret “Peggy” Jean Lindgren. 

He is survived by his brothers, Alan Powers Keene of Tulsa, Okla., and Arthur Raymond Keene of Bozeman; sisters, Avis Leona Barnes and Gary of Montrose, Colo., Sharon Helen Teixeira of Newark, Calif., and Sheila Mae Keene-Larsen and George Keene-Larsen of Grass Valley, Calif.; his companion of nine years, Patty Ann Wright of Whitefish; niece, Raymona Keene; and other nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 8 at the Kalispell Senior Apartments, 320 Two Mile Drive, in the community room. A larger celebration will be held this summer, time and place to be determined. 

The family requests memorial contributions be made to Art Keene, 802 N. 17th, No. 33, Bozeman, MT 59715, or to the charity of your choice. Friends are encouraged to visit www.buffalohillfh.com to leave notes of condolence for the family. Buffalo Hill Funeral Home and Crematory is caring for the family.