John G. Leppla, 72, of Pittsburgh died Thursday at West Penn Hospital.

Born in 1936 in Pittsburgh, he was the son of the late Samuel G. Leppla and Adelaide Leppla Daley.

He graduated from Peabody High School, Class of 1953.

He served in the Army from 1958 to 1960. He earned a B.S.M.E. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1970.

John worked for Westinghouse from 1953 to 1988, starting as an apprentice tool maker and then working in management. For the past several years, he was an instructor of vocational training at Penn State University.

He was a founding member of the Carradam Golf Club, a long-standing member of Edgewood Country Club, and a new member of the Villages Golf Club.

He is survived by his fiancee, Judy Musgrave; his former wife, Gail Leppla; three children, John and Jeff Leppla and Heather Romano; four grandchildren, Francesca and Nicholas Romano, Carson Leppla, and Heather Vermillion; and two great-grandchildren, Chase and Logan Vermillion. He is also survived by two sisters, Barbara Bitting and Bernadette Richards; and a brother, Robert Leppla.

<B>LEPPLA</B> — A private memorial service and vault burial in Allegheny Cemetery followed by a luncheon at Edgewood Country Club for John G. Leppla, who died Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009, will be held March 21.The family prefers donations to benefit leukemia research.The <B>James W. Shirley Funeral Home</B>, North Huntington, is in charge of arrangements.