CLEVELAND, Ohio – Tim Leslie led thousands of people through the catacombs of Cleveland history, using his passion, booming voice and love of the city to teach a remarkable lesson.
Leslie served for 12 years as a caretaker and tour guide at the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument on Public Square, where he became famous for leading the Tunnel Tours in October, an event that fascinated some and freaked out others.
Leslie, of Cleveland, died Sunday after a brief illness. He was 54.
“He wasn’t just a tour guide; he was part of the monument,” said Shane Doyle, his close friend and fellow monument caretaker. “It didn’t matter to him who you were or where you were from. He approached everyone the same. He made everyone who walked in here feel special. He made you feel like this was your tour, that it was your monument.”
Leslie led thousands of tourists a year at the 122-year-old monument, which is devoted to the 9,000 men from Cuyahoga County who served during the Civil War. He helped design floral arrangements for the outside gardens, gave an oral history that left many in awe and did whatever was needed to fix and care for the monument.
But he became known for the Tunnel Tours.
On the last Saturday of October, Leslie and Doyle would lead hundreds of people through the catacombs of the monument, which are said to be haunted. Last year, more than 900 took part on the tours, and his friends said Leslie was so enthused and upbeat through the whole night that his voice gave out.
He began the tour on the street level of the monument. Then, he would lead people through the tunnels.
“This is a very spiritual place,” The Plain Dealer’s Laura DeMarco quoted Leslie for a story in 2013. “People touring the catacombs have said they felt like something was crawling all over them. Other people have inexplicably and temporarily lost power in their camera and batteries downstairs, then found it was restored later. Other people see orbs show up on their pictures after they take them.”
He then showed visitors one orb in a photo that he said looked like monument architect Levi Scofield, before leading the group down the narrow staircase to the dark, unlit Civil War-era brick tunnels that run beneath Public Square.
“Take lots of pictures,” Leslie said, as he ducked under low arches and around sharp bends as we followed, reassuring the spirits that “We come in peace.”
“Use your recorder,” he told the group. “You never know what you might hear later.”
What friends remember about Leslie is his faith, in his country and in his God.
“He believed in the universal brotherhood of man,” said Tim Daley, the executive director of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument. “We were all brothers, no matter our background. He also believed that we were children of God. In my opinion, those were his foundations.”
He became an ordained minister in 2006, serving at Philippi Missionary Baptist Church, Greater Mount Ararat Baptist Church, First Baptist Church and East Mount Vernon Baptist Church. He was married to his wife Cathy. He had two sons, Timothy Jr. and Emmanuel.
Leslie grew up in Cleveland and then served 20 years in the U.S. Navy. He returned to Cleveland and worked as a recruiter. He went to work at the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument in about 2005.
The monument will be closed Saturday, when Leslie’s funeral services begin at 9:30 a.m. at Messiah Baptist Church on Cedar Avenue. The monument will re-open Tuesday.
“Tim was the true embodiment of what the monument stood for: service to others, belief in our constitution and a service to a higher calling,” Daley said.
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