The Very Reverend James Leo Dean Leo claimed that the Duchess of Windsor had given him a wooden cross and a pair of candlesticks to thank him for his ministry. This gift was made by her lawyer, Maître Suzanne Blum. Shortly before his death, the Dean sold them on eBay for $1,975. James Leo was born on August 24 1933 and educated at Bucknell University, where he was a gifted athlete. He served in the US Army for two years before studying for the priesthood in the Episcopal Church and entering the General Theological Seminary in New York City. He then served churches in Pennsylvania and New York before being elected Dean of the American Cathedral in Paris in 1980. He participated in the civil rights marches at Selma, Alabama, in the 1960s. While in Paris, he established a refugee programme at the American Cathedral to help people find work and a place to live. In Paris he welcomed many world leaders to his cathedral, among them Presidents Ford, Reagan and Bush. From 1991 to 1998 he served as the first Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Cincinnati, presiding over its consecration as a cathedral. Leo is remembered for his dry wit and his passion for the Episcopal church. He was a considerate and generous host. In all he did he was supported by his wife of 49 years, Patsy Elliman, who survives him with his two sons, Jonathan (a professor of neuroanatomy in Tennessee) and Jason (rector of Calvary Episcopal Church, Cincinnati). The Very Reverend James Leo, born August 24 1933, died December 14 2011