Basil Burleigh “Leigh” Bartlow, 89, of Madison, AL passed away Wednesday at his home.
Mr. Bartlow was born in Wilkes-Barre, PA, the middle son of Harry John and Leah Frances Landon Bartlow, both deceased. The family first lived in Mehoopany and later in New Albany, Bradford County, PA. At age seven, following the death of his father, he was placed in the Girard College orphanage in Philadelphia, PA, graduating in 1954. While there, he served as treasurer of his senior class, was elected to the National Honor Society, and lettered on the swimming team.
Under a full NROTC scholarship, he studied electrical engineering at the University of Louisville’s Speed School of Engineering in Louisville, KY. He also served as president of his fraternity, was a member of the Interfraternity Council, and earned a varsity letter on the university’s swimming team. Additionally, he completed three summer cruises as a midshipman. He graduated and was commissioned in the U.S. Navy in 1959. He later continued his studies at Northeastern University in Boston, MA, and at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH).
From 1959 to 1962, he served aboard the destroyer USS John R. Pierce (DD-753), homeported in Norfolk, VA. In May 1962, he was the ship’s navigator when the Pierce recovered Scott Carpenter’s Mercury spacecraft north of Puerto Rico. Carpenter had overshot the designated landing zone, coming down approximately 200 miles beyond the Pierce’s position. Mr. Bartlow continued serving in the Naval Reserve until his honorable discharge in 1969.
Mr. Bartlow met Paula Kay Crosby, a native of El Paso, TX, while she was a student at Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, VA. They married in 1961 and began raising a family. In 1962, they moved to eastern Massachusetts, where Mr. Bartlow was elected a Town Meeting Representative in Billerica and also served as president of the local Jaycees.
In 1972, after working for 10 years at RCA in Burlington, MA, he and his family moved to Huntsville, AL. There, he worked for the U.S. Army Missile Command (MICOM) until retiring in 1993. He subsequently worked for two government contractors and, in 1995, co-founded AIRnet Internet Services. Under his leadership, AIRnet’s service area expanded to encompass most of North Alabama. The company was sold to HiWAAY Information Services in 1999.
In Huntsville, Mr. Bartlow continued his active community involvement. He served as Scoutmaster of BSA Troop 7 and later as an adult Scouter in BSA’s Creek District. He was elected to the BSA Order of the Arrow and helped raise two Eagle Scouts.
Licensed as WD4CPF in 1977, he became an active member of the Huntsville Amateur Radio Club, where he served in various leadership positions, including president. Throughout his years as a ham radio operator, he helped provide communications support for numerous events, including the Rocket City Marathon and other foot, bicycle and horse races. He was elected an honorary member of the Huntsville Amateur Radio Club and was a life member of the American Radio Relay League and the Radio Emergency Associated Communication Teams (REACT).
He was also a life member of the Girard College Alumni Association, from whom he received the Award of Merit in 2013.
Throughout his active life, Mr. Bartlow was also a member of numerous professional, fraternal, civic, and social organizations, including the Institute of Radio Engineers, IEEE, the National Honor Society, Triangle Fraternity, the US Jaycees, Epsilon Sigma Alpha, American Legion Post 237, the former Welcome Wagon bridge club, and Trinity United Methodist Church in Huntsville.
An avid traveler, he enjoyed exploring the world and pursuing a wide range of interests, including amateur radio, playing bridge, dancing, singing, backpacking, ocean cruising, and swimming.
Mr. Bartlow was preceded in death by his first wife, Paula, in 1988; an infant son, who died in 1962; and his two brothers, Brian Williams Bartlow in 1954, and Alan Lee (Buddy) Bartlow in 1968. His second wife, Iona Bright Miles Bartlow, a Canadian-American from Campbellford, Ontario, whom he married in Huntsville in 1989, also preceded him in death.
He is survived by his wife, Lynda Persson Bartlow, whom he married in 2021; his sons, Byron (Susan) of Madison and Robert (Shalamar) of Eagan, MN; and his stepchildren from his marriage to Iona. Cherri Miles Patton of Hendersonville, TN, Jeffrey Miles (Pam) of Henagar, AL, and Wilson Miles of Huntsville. He is also survived by his stepchildren from his marriage to Lynda, James (Angel) Jones of Olive Branch, MS, Bryan (Amy) Jones of Toney, AL and Tabitha (Garland) Sharp of Gurley, AL.
Other survivors include his four grandchildren, numerous step-grandchildren, great-grandchildren and step-great-grandchildren, as well as cousins, in-laws, many friends, and his Girard brothers from Maine to California.
Visitation will be held at Laughlin Service Funeral Home on Saturday, November 7th from 1 to 2 p.m., followed by a service in the chapel at 2 p.m. with grandson-in-law Brian Fourroux officiating.
