Leeper, Ross Allen (1933-2019) | University of Illinois Archives

Ross Allen Leeper (1933-2019) was born in Earlham, Iowa on November 27, 1933. The son of Merle and Ruth (DeVault) Leeper), he attended a one-room school hourse before attending Earlham High School. Leeper became a member of the Iowa All State Band during the festival's second year of operations. In 1951 he began attending Simpson College in Indianola Iowa, but transferred to Drake University in Des Moines two years later, graduating in 1955. The following year he married Shirley Paasch. He began teaching middle school band in Exira, Iowa. In 1956, he enlisted in the US Army, where he performed in the band. After he was discharged in 1958, he began a masters degree in music at Drake.

Also in 1958, Leeper was hired as the band director in Eagle Grove, Iowa. He would serve in this position until 1989. While serving in this role, Leeper became the treasurer of the ASBDA, serving from 1968-1978. During the 1979 annual convention, Leeper was elected president of the ASBDA. He would continue to serve the organization for the next several decades, serving on the education committee and managing the Dale C. Harris memorial and CD project.

In 1989, at the invitation of Simpson College, he became the head of the music department at Simpson. He would serve in this position until 2000. After a brief retirement, he served Knoxville High School in Knoxville, Iowa as the director of bands. He would serve in this role from 2001 to 2012. In 2014 he began teaching music part time at West Des Moines Dowling High School, he served in this role until his death in 2019.

In addition to his teaching positions, Leeper played principal alto saxophone with the Karl King Band in Fort Dodge, Iowa from 1960 to 1990; he played with the Al Welsh Band from 1960 to 2019; he was music director and conductor of the Fort Dodge area symphony from 1978-1985; and he was conductor of the Fort Dodge Choral Society from 1985 to 1988. Leeper died on April 11, 2019 in Earlham, IA.