Charles Leider
January 29, 2019
Charles L. Leider, 86, was born in Howard, SD, on October 12, 1932, to Dr. Louis and Ardath Willoughby Leider and passed away in Stillwater, OK, on January 29, 2019. Following his high school graduation, he served two years in the US Army’s 196th Regimental Combat Teams 147 Field Artillery Service Battery for the South Dakota National Guard. Following his military service, Charles attended college. Dr. Leider graduated from Michigan State University (bachelors), Yale University (masters), and Oklahoma State University (doctorate). Charles and Yuvone Fleming, a nurse, were married in 1965. To this union, two sons were born: Charles and Steve. During Charles’ 50-year career in higher education and in public and private practice, he prepared several hundred planning projects in the central and western United States as well as in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. He was often recognized for executive planning and design projects demonstrating innovation in sustainability in community planning and landscape architecture during the time he worked for several consulting firms in Nebraska, Missouri, California, and Qatar. During his work in South Dakota, Charles developed plans for municipalities and in several different counties. His years in higher education were spent at the University of Nebraska, University of Kansas, and Oklahoma State University where he developed and directed the landscape architecture program from 1985 to 2012. As director and professor, Charles created one of the strongest professional Landscape Architecture five-year programs in the country. At OSU, he established an international dimension to the program by creating study-abroad programs in Peru and Japan as well as international internships to Luxembourg, Poland, and China. In 1996, he was awarded a silver medal from the Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal, Lima, Peru, for establishing the Studio Exchange Program with OSU’s Landscape Architecture program. He took the lead in creating a research program at OSU in the preservation of historic cultural landscapes in Oklahoma. His students have won national awards from the Charles E. Peterson prize competition in recognition of their efforts that Dr. Leider directed. Noteworthy awards include his being the first native South Dakotan to be named a Fellow in the American Society of Landscape Architects, the only native South Dakotan to be a charter member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, and the Landscape Architecture Distinguished Alumnus award from the School of Planning, Design and Construction at Michigan State University. Charles was preceded in death by his brothers John and Mark, his sister Barbara Ann, and his parents. He is survived by his wife Yuvone, son Charles (Lisa), and their daughters Lauren, Logan, and Catherine, as well as by son Steve (Grace) and son Noah.