Beech Tree News Network

Leo Anthony Fernandez, 79, died December 5, 2017 at home with his wife, Kelley, by his side.

He was a doting, devoted husband, a tender-hearted father, a precise musician, an abstract artist, a curious intellectual, a Bowling Green High football fan and a deep conversationalist.

Leo taught drawing and other art curricula at Western Kentucky University from 1966 to 2003 and served as department head for eight of those years.

Since the late 1960s, Leo played Old-Time and Bluegrass mandolin and fiddle on the front porches and in the living rooms of friends and acquaintances from across the state. His band, Leo Fernandez and His Hot Tamales, won the Tennessee Old-Time String Band competition in 1976.

He received a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas, El Paso and a MFA from Claremont Graduate School.

He is preceded in death by his father, Salvadore Fernandez, and his mother, Mary Fernandez.

Leo is survived by his wife and companion of 35 years, Kelley Hammers of Bowling Green; his children, Angela Fernandez of Bowling Green and Tony Fernandez (Jacy) of Franklin, Tenn.; a step-daughter, Dana Felty Bynum (Russ) of Savannah, Ga.; two brothers, Robert Fernandez and John Fernandez of El Paso, Texas; two sisters, Carmen Fernandez of Plano, Texas, and Mary Gamboa of El Paso, Texas; three granddaughters, Brayden, Kylie and Layton Fernandez of Franklin, Tenn. and two step-grandsons, Carter and Calvin Bynum of Savannah, Ga.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Leo’s memory to The Foundation for Bluegrass Music, 4206 Gallatin Pike, Nashville, TN 37216 or to Kentucky Educational Television by calling (800) 866-0366.