Leroy Dibble was born on April 17, 1837, in Licking County, Ohio to Luman and Susan Dibble. His father was a stone mason who owned $100 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Granville, Ohio, and by 1860, he was working as a plasterer.
He enlisted in the Union army on September 3, 1861, and he mustered in as a corporal in Company D of the 22nd Ohio Infantry on November 1. The regiment took part in the Battle of Fort Donelson, the Battle of Shiloh, the siege of Corinth, and the siege of Vicksburg. In April 1862, he declared that "All of our boys are eager for a fight for thay wanto get the war closed for thay wanto go home." He was promoted to sergeant on July 1, 1862, and he mustered out on November 18, 1864.
He returned to the Union army in March 1865, receiving a commission as a 2nd lieutenant in Company F of the 187th Ohio Infantry. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant on July 10, 1865, and he mustered out on January 20, 1866. He enlisted in the Regular Army in March 1867, but he was discharged in November 1867.
Dibble returned to Granville after leaving the army, and he resumed his work as a plasterer. He married Ann E. Kennedy on January 21, 1869, and they had at least two children: Mary, born around 1871; and Susan, born around 1874. They lived in Granville, and by 1870, he owned $150 of personal property. They moved to Chillicothe, Ohio, in the 1870s.
He applied for a federal pension in July 1890 and eventually secured one. By 1900, he was living in a cousin’s household in Madison, Ohio. By then, he was reportedly “afflicted with a serious nervous trouble.” He died by suicide in Canal Winchester, Ohio, on July 5, 1900.