Donald J. Leard, 72, of Chicora died at 6:23 p.m. Sunday at Suburban General Hospital in the Bellview section of Pittsburgh following an illness.

Born in Worthington, July 10, 1936, he was the son of the late James Leard and the late Gladys Skinner Leard.

Mr. Leard was a teacher at Karns City High School for 30 years, where he taught history and social studies, retiring in 1991. During his teaching career at Karns City, he also was the athletic director for the school.

He was a Lutheran.

He served with the U.S. Army from 1959 to 1964, and he achieved the rank of specialist 5. He was a member of the Chicora American Legion.

Surviving are two daughters, Rebecca Tomczyk and her husband, Todd, of Reading and Nancy Barone and her husband, John, of Alexandra, Va.; five sons, James Byrnes and his wife, Virginia, of Fairport, N.Y., Joseph Byrnes and his wife, LuAnn, of Butler, Patrick Byrnes and his partner, Grant Nickolson, of Australia, David Leard of Minneapolis, Minn. and Michael Leard and his wife, Mary Ellen, of Pittsburgh; 14 grandchildren; a brother, Paul Leard of Columbus, Ohio, and a sister, Lois Smith and her husband, Ron, of Central, Pa.

His wife, Lois Jean Parker Byrnes Leard, who he married in November 1963, died Jan. 30, 2001. He also was preceded in death by two sisters, Ruby Leard and Helen Kromer

<B>LEARD </B>— Friends of Donald J. Leard, who died Sunday, March 1, 2009, will be received 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at <B>STEIGHNER FUNERAL HOME</B>, 111 E. Slippery Rock and Main streets, Chicora, and 10 to 11 a.m. Friday at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 2217 Chicora Road, Chicora. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at the church with the Rev. James Higgins, pastor, and Vicar Cinda Brucker, intern, at Trinity Lutheran Church, 120 Sunset Drive, Butler, officiating. Burial will be in Hemphill Cemetery, Chicora.Military honors will be conducted by members of the Chicora American Legion, the Chicora V.F.W. and the 99th Regional Readiness Command of Coraopolis.For more information, directions and to extend condolences to the family, go to www.steighnerfuneralhome.com.