Robert “Weewahootee” Leath, March 15, 1937 – July 7, 2017

The Central Florida Rifle and Pistol Club Family is saddened to announce the passing of Robert Leath, a member emeritus of the Club, a long serving member of the Executive Committee and the most significant force behind the development of the action shooting sports at the Club.

At the Club Picnic in 2010, I had the pleasure of announcing that the Executive Committee had decided to name the Club’s action range after Robert.  From that day forward, the action range has been known formally as the Robert “Weewahootee” Leath Action Range or the Leath Action Range, and informally as the LAR.  For those who knew Robert and for those who did not, I believe that the most fitting tribute I can provide is to reprint that announcement here.

Rest in peace, dear Robert.  You will be missed, but never forgotten.

-Ernie Myers, Vice President, Central Florida Rifle and Pistol Club.

From my announcements at the Club Picnic, October 30, 2010:

The members of the executive committee have traditionally recused themselves from eligibility for Member of the Year.  That being said, for the first time in quite some time, Robert Leath is no longer a member of the executive committee.  Now, Robert Leath was on the executive committee longer than I have been a member of this Club.  He was on the executive committee longer than I have owned firearms.  I came to Orlando in 1995, and Robert Leath was on the executive committee longer than I have lived in Central Florida.  He was on the executive committee longer than I have been an attorney, and longer than I have lived in the State of Florida.  I graduated high school in 1985, and Robert Leath was on the executive committee longer than I have been a high school graduate.  Hell, as far as I know, Robert Leath may have been on the executive committee of this Club longer than IÔÇÖve been alive.  Now, some considerable thought was given to making Robert Leath the Member of the Year this year.  However, while Member of the Year is a great honor, it didnÔÇÖt seem to be enough.  What do you do for a guy who has been the soul of this place for as long as it has been at this location, and perhaps longer?  Well, the bylaws say, you make him a Member Emeritus.  Unfortunately, thatÔÇÖs already been done.

In his role as Executive Officer, Robert Leath was instrumental in planning, establishing, building, and running the action range or the back range as it is sometimes called.  Back there, we have matches almost every weekend: IDPA, IPSC, Tac 3-Gun, ICORE, and of course, the match most often associated with Robert, SASS or Cowboy Action shooting.  The road that leads to this range, Wewahootee Road, takes its name from RobertÔÇÖs SASS alias name, Weewahootee.  As does the name of the local SASS Club, the Weewahootee Vigilance Committee.  Back in 2002, the Orlando Sentinel published an article on the sport of Cowboy Action Shooting.  In part, it said, and I quote:

ÔÇ£By 9 on this Sunday morning, about 20 vehicles — mostly pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles — gather at the Central Florida Rifle and Pistol Club in southeast Orange County, where these modern-day cowboys stage their monthly shootouts.

ÔÇ£Out of one steps Weewahootee, a leathery codger with a dusty white beard thick as sarsaparilla froth that frames a roguish, yawning grin. He wears a blue paisley shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, high-waisted blue canvas pants with white stripes, suspended by Y-back braces, and leather boots.

ÔÇ£His real name is Robert Leath. Like the rest of the gunslingers here, he uses an alias when he straps on his shooting irons. The first time he shot cowboy replicas was in the late ’70s, and in 1985, the retired Boone High math teacher co-founded the first club in Florida for cowboy action shooting, the Weewahootee Vigilance Committee

ÔÇ£Weewahootee nods. He plucks a gherkin of a cigar from the pack, fires it up, takes a deep drag. He blows a billowy cloud and moseys off.ÔÇØ

While he was the Executive Officer of this Club, you could not think of the action range, without thinking of Robert Leath.  Therefore, the Executive Committee of the Club could think of no honor more appropriate than to continue that tradition in perpetuity.  Accordingly, henceforth, the action range at the Central Florida Rifle & Pistol Club shall officially be named the Robert ÔÇ£WeewahooteeÔÇØ Leath Action Range, and shall be referred to in all official club material as the Leath Action Range.