Santaluz’s Todd Leigh honored as a Father of the Year

Santaluz resident Todd Leigh, commercial real estate law attorney at Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch, was recently honored with a 2013 Father of the Year award by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) at its 10th annual Father of the Year awards. More than 370 guests attended the awards dinner held June 6 at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla Hotel. The ADA said the dinner generated more than $207,000 in donations for diabetes research and programs and services for people with diabetes.

Leigh was one of three dads who receive Father of the Year awards on June 6. Other honorees included: James Fitzpatrick, owner, CEO and publisher of San Diego Magazine; and, Donald Ankeny, president/CEO of Westcore Properties.

Leigh also was honored on June 6 with the ADA Chair’s Citation Award, which recognizes the outstanding accomplishments of individuals, corporations, institutions or organizations who have demonstrated significant dedication and commitment in their local market and have had a positive impact in advancing the mission of the ADA. Leigh is credited with helping to start the Father of the Year awards program in San Diego, including recruiting the event’s chair and first honorees.

Leigh and his wife Carola, married since 2009, have five children, including Frank, Jeff, Mary, Zach and Josh, along with nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Zach, 40, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 2. Over the decades, Leigh has been a dedicated volunteer for the American Diabetes Association in many capacities. He has served and chaired numerous ADA committees and boards on the national, state and local levels. He served as chairman of the national ADA board in 1991-1992. He is the recipient of the highest volunteer awards given by the ADA for outstanding contribution in the case of diabetes. Leigh also is an avid runner, completing numerous Ironman triathlons and more than 27 100-mile trail runs, as well as the Bad Water 146 ultramarathon, a 146-mile run from Badwater Basin in California’s Death Valley (282 feet below sea level) to the top of Mt. Whitney (14,505 feet above sea level).

Leigh graduated from the University of California Berkeley with a degree in economics in 1964, and a law degree from Boalt Hall School of Law on the Berkeley campus in 1967. He has practiced law since 1968 at Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch, specializing in commercial real estate law. Established in 1946, Procopio is the largest full-service business law firm in San Diego County with more than 130 lawyers practicing in more than 30 specialty areas.

The Father of the Year Awards program, presented by the Father’s Day Council and benefiting the American Diabetes Association, honors fathers in the U.S. who have demonstrated the ability to balance their personal lives, serve as role models of strength, commitment and love for their children and help make positive contributions to their communities, according to Nicole Parker Eades, ADA manager with the San Diego office.

“We were proud to honor men who have achieved a high-level of success in their careers while finding the time to be exemplary fathers,” said Nicole Parker Eades, manager. “These men deserved recognition not only as fathers and community leaders, but for the thousands of dollars they have helped raise to stop diabetes.”

The New York-based Father’s Day Council, which began the awards program in 1942, designated the ADA as its charity partner in 1999. In 2004, the San Diego ADA office began its Father of the Year awards program. Over the past 10 years in San Diego, the awards program has generated more than $2 million in donations. Additional donations on honor of the three award recipients can be made by contacting Eades at the ADA’s San Diego office, at (619) 234-9897, ext. 7438, or by visiting www.diabetes.org/SanDiegoFOTY.