Edward Leisenring Jr., former CEO of Westmoreland Coal Co., died Wednesday of heart failure in his winter home in Aiken, S.C. He was 85.

Founded by Leisenring's great-grandfather in 1835, Westmoreland is one of the largest coal producers in the United States. Leisenring began his career with the company as an underground mining machine operator in 1949 after graduating with a degree in English from Yale University.

During his chairmanship of the Bituminous Coal Operators Association from 1976 to 1978, Leisenring played a key role in negotiating an end to what Leisenring's son called the longest strike in the history of the United Mine Workers of America union.

"At Westmoreland, Ted Leisenring sought to seize this moment by developing what he called 'an ongoing and intensive communications program' with workers 'to identify emerging problems and to resolve them before they fester and erupt into wildcat strikes,'" wrote Dan Rottenberg in his 2003 book, "In the Kingdom of Coal."

Leisenring leaves behind his wife, a daughter, two sons and eight grandchildren (Walter Naedele, Philadelphia Inquirer, March 13). -- PK