Leonard Vernon, known for his generosity in exhibiting his extensive photography collection, died peacefully in his sleep on October 28. He was 89. He and his wife and partner of 42 years Marjorie lived in Pacific Palisades, where they raised their three children until moving to Bel-Air in 1976. The Brooklyn native was a fiercely loyal Dodgers fan. He was also a lifelong member of B’nai B’rith, and was active in a number of local men’s organizations; he also found time to coach his son’s Little League team. An amateur photographer, Vernon had been interested in photography since he was a teenager in Brooklyn and always knew who was famous and who was doing interesting work. Until the time of Marjorie’s death in 1998, the couple had been collecting photographs that they loved regardless of famous names or subject matter. ‘We were interested in the beauty of the piece and the feelings about the pictures, what it said to us; it could be old, it could be new,’ Vernon told the Palisadian-Post in 1999. The couple shared an interest in the arts and opened, first to the family and ultimately to their community, a unique exposure to photography as art through the support of public venues and by sharing their extensive photography collection with students, friends and aficionados. In 1999, 150 of their 5,000 prints were exhibited at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Vernon will be remembered for his many civic and philanthropic endeavors including his board memberships with the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Museum of Photographic Art in San Diego, Friends of Photography in San Francisco, Operation USA, and past president of the United Nations Association. He is survived by his children, Barry, Carol Turbin (husband Bob) and Robert; granddaughter Melissa (husband Kyle) Cohne and great-grandson Aiden Cohne. Funeral services were held at Hillside Memorial Park.
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