D. Leon Stokes

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D. Leon Stokes was born December 16, 1959, in Lansing Michigan. He is the youngest of five children born to John and Clara Stokes. Throughout his formative years, Leon was an active and inquisitive young man, a bit mischievous, but never one to get into any real trouble. He was a good athlete, playing football and basketball (he was a member of the 1977 Michigan Boys Class A State Champion Everett High School Basketball Team), but a better student. He eventually earned degrees in Mechanical Engineering from General Motors Institute (now known as Kettering University) and Applied Statistics from Oakland University. In addition to sports, Leon’s interests growing up included reading and music, leading to the study of piano and later in life, the bass guitar. Throughout his life, Leon was heavily influenced by his parents, especially his father. Their unconditional love, and the exemplary example set by his father led him to accept Christ at a young age, to continually strive to be the kind of man he saw in his father, and to endeavor to live a righteous life that would make his parents proud. A former executive for General Motors, Leon retired in 2020 after 41 years of dedicated service and wrote the inspiring tribute to his father, “Are The Kids Okay: Life Lessons From A Great Man.” He now resides in Michigan with the love of his life,  Yvette Robinson Stokes, where he can be found reading fictional novels, and honing his musical skills as a pianist and bass guitarist.