Leon Atkinson will be deeply missed

I met Leon Atkinson not long after moving to the area in 1981. He was playing in a coffee house that was in the large house north of Performance Automotive and at the end of N. Fifth Avenue.

Leon and I connected because of our love of jazz. Over the years, we went to several jazz concerts together with the last one being Joshua Redman at Whitworth University.

About four or five months prior to Leon’s death, he called me from where he was staying in Boise. During our conversation Leon told me what had happened to him.

While in California, Leon came down with E.coli. This destroyed his kidney transplant (which had to be removed) and which put him back on dialysis.

Since he was also having problems because of diabetes, Leon had to wear compression socks on both legs, which caused severe sores.

One of Leon’s legs had sores so bad that it had to be amputated.

During our conversation, Leon was in good spirits and optimistic about his future.

My last contact with Leon (who was in Sandpoint at the time) was over a month prior to his death and he gave no indication that his situation was dire.

Over the years we helped each other, when asked for, and my experience was that Leon was very generous with helping me when I needed it.

Rest in peace, Leon.

LEE SANTA

Sandpoint