Former teacher, Moline mayor, passes away at age 90
A longtime teacher and leader of the Moline and Quad Cities community has passed away, according to an obituary on Legacy.com.
Stanley Francis Leach, 90, of Moline,, passed away Wednesday at Friendship Manor in Rock Island.
He was born in Moline on Jan. 19, 1935, the son of Francis and Wilda Leach.
Leach graduated from Moline High School in 1953. He earned a bachelor of arts from Western Illinois University and a master's degree from Illinois State University. He also served in the Air National Guard.
In 1961, Stan married Wilma 'Willie' Hughes in Washington, Iowa. They were longtime members of the First Congregational Church in Moline.
Leach was an art teacher at Moline High School, and volunteered with the Illinois Youth Commission in the late 1960s, helped start the Moline Optimists Youth Flag Football Program in 1967, co-founded the Moline Young Life program in the 1970s, worked with the Moline Park Board in the 1980s, and helped raise funds with Bob Tunberg for a new gymnasium at Arrowhead Ranch in 1991.
He served as a board member for the Niabi Zoological Society, Rock Island County Area Projects, Rock Island Animal Shelter, Moline Rotary, Viva Quad Cities, and the QC and John Deere Golf Classics for over 50 years. He was inducted into the Moline High School Hall of Honor in 2010.
He has served on the U. S. League of Cities, the Illinois Municipal League, the Bi-State Planning Commission, and the I-74 Interstate Commission Board and acted as a Moline Second-Alarmer for 20 years. Leach's public offices include a Moline Township Trustee (1980-1985), Moline Alderman Fifth Ward (1985-1990), and Moline Alderman Fourth Ward (1991-1993). He was the first mayor of Moline to be elected to three consecutive terms (1993-2005).
Survivors include his wife, Willie; son, Jon; and grandchildren, Addison Irene and Bradyn Stanley, along with a sister, Barbara Fulton, and many nieces and nephews. Memorials may be made to Friends of the Moline Library and Crime Stoppers of the Quad Cities, for which his son Jon is spokesman.
There will be no visitation, and a private graveside service and burial will take place at the Rock Island National Cemetery.
Family and friends can share memories and express condolences at .
To plant trees in his memory, visit here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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