Walter C. "Pete" Leach, owner of a chain of bicycle shops and an authority on horse-drawn carriages, died Wednesday of cancer at his Long Green residence. He was 73.
A bicyclist, he started repairing bicycles in the basement of his family's Plymouth Road home in Hamilton. In 1938, with $5 in his pocket, he opened his first Pete's Cycles in the 5000 block of Harford Road with his father as partner.
The original store is still operating, as are one in Parkville, one in Severna Park and two in Bel Air. The stores sell and repair bicycles, water vehicles and motorcycles.
Mr. Leach, who was semiretired, was described by son-in-law Joe Kruse as "loving anything on wheels."
His interest in carriages was stimulated after he bought his home in Long Green Valley and discovered an abandoned Conestoga wagon on the property. His determination to accurately restore the wagon led to a passion for collecting carriages, with a special emphasis on Studebakers and those produced by Brewster & Co. of New York.
He traveled widely to acquire carriages for his collection.
He had one of the nation's largest collection of Brewsters and became an authority on their history and restoration. The company began building carriages in the 1830s and later converted to fabricating bodies for Rolls Royce. It closed in the 1930s.
His knowledge was sought by collectors around the world.
"He took pride in sharing what he knew with others," said Susan Green, librarian of the Carriage Museum of America in Leesburg,
Va., where he was a trustee.
"He collected Brewster run-abouts, buggies, coaches, landaus, and he knew everything about their wheel and lamp styles and upholstery," Ms. Green said. "He took it all very seriously but wasn't a stuffy, standoffish collector, but one who was very generous with his knowledge. He was a very special person."
Jack Day, a fellow collector from Monkton who spent Saturdays with Mr. Leach working on carriages, said, "He was very handy with his hands, and he painstakingly restored his carriages to perfection. He also had a large collection of antique carriage-making tools, which he used in his work. He was a very friendly fellow who loved helping others with their carriages or answering their questions."
Mr. Leach attended St. Dominic's parochial school on Harford Road and was a graduate of Mount St. Joseph High School. During World War II, he served in the Army Air Forces as an aircraft technician and was stationed in the Aleutians. He was discharged in 1945.
He was a director and vice president of the 3,000-member Carriage Association of America.
A Mass of Christian burial was to be offered at noon today at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, 13305 Long Green Pike, Hydes.
He is survived by his wife of 48 years, the former Marirose Angela Dugan; six sons, Thomas W. Leach of Forest Hill, Walter C. Leach Jr. and D. Patrick Leach of Severna Park, John W. Leach of Bel Air, Richard W. Leach of New York City and Chester W. Leach of Bozeman, Mont.; two daughters, M. Susan Kruse of Fallston and Ann Marie Charitonuk of Hampstead; and six grandchildren.