Does time during a leave of absence count toward the 1 year of employment required to qualify for and use FMLA?
No, leave of absence time is not "work time" for this purpose. While you do not need all 12 months of service to be consecutive--for example, you could have done 7 months prior to a leave, then 5 months post-leave, and that would qualify--you still need to have actually worked for at least 12 months. From what you write, you would therefore seem to not be eligible.