SHANGHAI — Leonard Preston Otto Jr, 74 of Shanghai, VA passed away on April 7, 2022 at Three Rivers Rehabilitation Center in West Point, VA at 6:10 am. He was preceded in death by his parents, Leonard Preston Otto Sr and Gladys Crouch Otto. He had no siblings nor children, but is survived by many cousins.
Preston Jr worked for Cokesbury United Methodist Church bookstore for 15 years in Richmond, VA until the operations were moved uptown. After that, he worked alongside his parents on the family farm helping with the farming operations, truck crops and marketing. He and his parents were an extremely close-knit unit. They traveled and made all decisions together. You never saw one of them without the other two.
Preston Jr loved flowers and planted them all over the yard surrounding his parent’s home. It is said that his love of flowers was nurtured by his grandmother Sarah Otto. One of his other great loves was cars, he could tell you facts about both domestic and foreign models. His “baby” was a 1978 Chevrolet Caprice Classic, it never saw a night outside of the garage. He had a very sharp mind and collected literature from all sorts of companies. Preston, Jr. shared his mother’s fascination with “movie stars” and could name them all.
His mother’s musical talents were not passed on to him nor was he blessed with athletic abilities. He shared a love of history with his father and the two of them had an amazing ability to both remember and recite dates, names and events in the history of the world, the community and his family.
His health began to decline after an operation on his colon in 2016. Preston, Jr. was born on April 29, 1947 at MCV hospital at 3:52 am. He was just 24 days shy of his 75th birthday.
A graveside service will be held 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 13th in Old Church United Methodist Church Cemetery, 25614 The Trail, Mattaponi, VA 23110 . In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: Old Church United Methodist Church Cemetery Fund c/o Joyce Goins, 145 Gregory Lane, Mattaponi, VA 23110.
