Leeber, Victor F.

Fr. Victor F. Leeber, 87, died at Campion Center in Weston, MA on August 14^th. He was born in Elkins, W. Virginia  but the family moved to the Boston area shortly thereafter. He attended his local parish school in Newton, MA.  and completed freshman year at Boston College before entering the Society at Shadowbrook in Lenox, MA. in July 1940. After philosophy at Weston he was assigned to the newly-founded Fairfield (CT) University to teach Spanish, French, and Italian. In effect, he was the founder- and eventually the chairman for 26 years- of the modern languages and literature department. While still a first –year scholastic he also founded Fairfield’s athletic department by organizing a cross-country team. In later years he went on to found the track, football, men’s and women’s swimming, and men’s basketball programs. He was chaplain to many of the teams and traveled to away games and championship tourneys.

After theology at Weston he made tertianship in Florence, Italy, then did two years of modern language studies at the University of Madrid in Spain. In 1957 he returned to Fairfield IL to teach modern languages, chair that department, and of course to continue his active support of all the athletic teams and to serve as chaplain to many of them. In 1992 he was inducted into the Fairfield  Alumni Association’s Athletic Hall of Fame as its “Father of Athletics” and 1998 two of his former students recognized him with a the donation of a statue of the Blessed Mother nestled in a natural grotto on the campus. Two scholarships were later established in his name.

He continued teaching until 1995 and was professor emeritus until 2003, when declining health required him to come to Campion Health Center. Victor Leeber was a man of small physical stature and quiet demeanor but there was a dynamo inside.