Leo A Zuercher

Leo Allan Zuercher, born February 8, 1932, to Leo and Gurtha Zuercher in Los Angeles, CA., died peacefully in his Clarkdale, AZ home on March 2, 2026.

In 1954 Leo married his sweetheart, Marlene. Their daughter, Marny Lee, was born in 1955 while Leo was stationed at Hamilton Air Force Base, CA. Three years later while stationed at Ben-Guerir, Morocco, he brought his wife and baby daughter to live overseas with him.

Six years later while Leo and his wife and daughter were stationed at Wheeler in Hawaii, they adopted two children, Nani, who was 2 years old, and Kimo, 3. Leo called them his “souvenirs” from Hawaii.

While the family was stationed at Edwards, Marny Lee married an airman and later joined the Air Force. While Marny was stationed at Lowrey Air force Base in CO, Leo and Marlene made the big leap to leave the military and moved the family to Bates Road outside of Cottonwood.

MSgt. Leo A. Zuercher retired from the U.S. Air force at Edwards Air Force Base, California, in 1974 as that base was being refitted for work on the new Shuttlecraft Project. “Zuerch,” as he was known then, had served for 24 years.

He was just getting started.

Retired air-to-ground communication officers were not in high demand, and in an effort to support his family Leo tried his hand at unloading lumber orders in the hills of the growing Sedona area and cutting meat at Fairway Foods in Clarkdale and Sedona.

In 1979 Leo began studying at Northern Arizona University for a degree in civil engineering technology. During his years of study, Tom and Diane Griffith of Griffith Enterprises rented the property owned by Leo and Marlene next to the family land. They realized what Leo could do was exactly what Griffith Enterprises needed from the rural community. Experience, work ethics and a unique skill set to be the beginning for a new business and job market for Yavapai County. (Amphenol Griffith Enterprises moved to Mesa in 2017 and “is a leading value-added manufacturer of electrical interconnect harnesses, systems controls, and ground support equipment for the military and commercial aerospace industries.”)

Leo tried to retire a few more times and was finally successful in 2004. He retired quietly in Pine Shadows, Cottonwood. He and Marlene traveled extensively in Europe and truly lived a full and beautiful life.

Leo has four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.