In recent years, he helped the Dayton Daily News solve the mystery of a lost Prohibition-era basement speakeasy on East Third Street, told the tale of ghostly chorus girls who could still be heard dancing long after death, and gave vivid accounts that could raise goosebumps of a cemetery relocated from downtown. Solving the speakeasy mystery in turn inspired the name for a new distillery in the Oregon District, Belle of Dayton.
His walks, which usually began at the Old Courthouse, were so popular that Mr. Bey had to add dates to the schedule to accommodate those who wanted to attend. Much of the material for Mr. Bey's discussions can be found at local historian Curt Dalton's Dayton History Books Online.
A memorial Service will be held at 2 p.m. in the Sanctuary of Christ Episcopal Church, 20 West First Street, Dayton, on July 6. Family will receive guests following the service in the Parish Hall.
Over the years Mr. Bey gave walking tours, armchair tours, and ghost walks of memorable historical sites in Dayton to thousands in nursing homes, classrooms, neighborhoods, and libraries around the county, said close friend Nancy Nerny, Dayton Board of Education vice president. She met Mr. Bey in the 1960s where both worked in the Alley Door Coffeehouse, a hangout for folk music fans, in the basement of Christ Episcopal Church downtown.
She credits Mr. Bey with encouraging her public service on the board.
“There were so many community aspects he was avid about, and he would push for things within those organizations. He was always pushing for creating a resilient, long-lasting organization that would serve the community,” Nerny said.
Mr. Bey spent most of his working career - more than 30 years - at the downtown Dayton Metro Library. There, he developed a grant writing program which helped many local organizations. His lecture programs included talks on Dayton’s gypsy settlement, the Watervliet Shakers, and the Great Flood.
“He played an important role in sharing our local history,” Brady Kress, President and CEO of Dayton History, said.
Nancy Horlacher, Local History Specialist at Metro Library, worked with Mr. Bey since 1970. “He was an unbelievable person as far as his interests, charitable giving and he was active in making things happen in the community,” she said. With friends around the nation, Mr. Bey would travel and then return with a presentation for library patrons, Horlacher said. “He has so many friends all over Dayton and all over the world, really. He was one of those unique people. They don’t come around that often, but touch many lives when they do.”
Mr. Bey attended Ansonia High School and Wright State University. He was a board member Board of Catholic Social Services. Leon spearheaded a summer film series called F.L.I.C.K.S.
He was a founding member of the Living Beatitudes Community and was active on the board of the Dayton Gay and Lesbian Center in the 1980s Mr. Bey also initiated the committee that organized Dayton’s 1st Pride Celebration in 1987. He also developed the first Natalie Barney celebration that honored the life of the Dayton writer. In 1988 Leon produced a program “Keeping Healthy in Difficult Times” for the Gay Center, in response to the AIDS crisis.
Mr. Bey’s family requests that expressions of sympathy be directed to House of Bread, 9 Orth Ave., in Dayton, Queen of Apostle Community 4435 E. Patterson Road Beavercreek, and the AIDS Resource Center Ohio, 15 W. Fourth Street, Suite 200, Dayton, 45402.
He is survived by his sisters Margaret (Andrew) Green, Susanne (Dennis) Barga.
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