John was born January 7, 1945, in Marshalltown to John and Grayce Leise of Liscomb. He graduated from BCL High School in 1963 and attended Marshalltown Community College, later receiving his bachelor’s degree from William Penn University. He began working for Fisher Controls (now Emerson) in 1966 and while employed there, transferred to Singapore from 1997 until 2007 where he traveled between several of Emerson’s Asia offices. While in Singapore, he met his wife Niki, and they wed on September 29, 2008 after returning to Marshalltown. John retired from Emerson in 2009 as Director of Order Administration- Asia. John had a passion for cars and loved going to car shows and races. He was an avid NASCAR fan, with Kyle Larson being one of his favorite drivers. John also loved farming, fishing and boating, but most of all he loved spending time with his family, children, and grandchildren.

Left to remember John are his wife, Niki; children John (Barbara) Leise III, Michelle (Randy) DuToit all of Altoona, and Christopher (Laura) Leise of Des Moines; grandchildren Sabryna (Dan) Schmidt of Indianola, Ethan and Ava Leise, Nicole DuToit all of Des Moines, Brandon and Alexis DuToit of Altoona; great-granddaughter Brylee Schmidt; his twin brother Don Leise of Woodstock IL, sisters JoAnn (Ken) Clar of Pacific MO, and Susan (Wayne) Araki of Seattle, WA. John was preceded in death by his parents John and Grayce Leise.