Leonardo P. Basurto
Leonardo P. Basurto was a doctor and former wrestler.
Dr. Basurto died at University Hospital on Friday, Oct. 30, 2009. He was 81.
He was born March 14, 1928, in Mexico City to Nicolas Blanco Basurto and Clementina Padilla Basurto. He moved to the United States in the late 1950s.
Dr. Basurto was a five-time national champion bantamweight wrestler for Mexico. His nickname was “La Pulga,” or the flea, because of his size and speed.
He won the championship at the Central American Games in 1950 in Guatemala City and in 1954 in Mexico City. He finished third in the 1951 and 1955 Pan-American Games in Buenos Aires and Mexico City. He went to the Olympics in Helsinki in 1952.
Dr. Basurto studied medicine at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma in Mexico. He then conducted an internship and residency in internal medicine at St. John's Hospital in Lowell, Mass., and Cambridge City Hospital in Cambridge, Mass.
He was hired in 1967 by MU as a general care physician for the Student Health Center and worked with MU in sports medicine.
Dr. Basurto married Reina I. Rodriguez in 1985.
He is survived by his wife; four children, Patricia E. Basurto, Nina M. Randall, Nicholas W. Basurto and Dominique M. Basurto; four sisters; five grandchildren, Ayla Pratt, Chey Deck, Caleb Wilson, Dakota Muhs and Ayden Muhs; three great-grandchildren, Griffin Pratt, Eve Pratt and Taylor Pratt; and 10 nieces and nephews.
Services, conducted by the Rev. Michael Flanagan, will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, 903 Bernadette Drive.
Inurnment will be conducted by Parker Funeral Services & Crematory, 22 N. Tenth St.
Memorial contributions can be sent to Missouri Lions Eye Bank, 404 Portland St., Columbia, MO 65201; or to the American Diabetes Association, 1316 Parkade Blvd., Columbia, MO 65203.
