Wednesday, December 23, 2020
My sincere condolences for the loss of your husband, father, brother-in-law, and friend to all who knew Leo, especially Barb, Bud, Karen, Paula, Carol, and Kevin and their families. I worked with Leo for 40 years at the Graham Road Animal Hospital as an associate veterinarian, starting right after graduation in the year of 1973 when Doc's new hospital was one year old. He was so proud of this new hospital. I never saw the old facility/house but I heard stories about it. I think I first met Doc's family on a Friday night which was always pizza night. My wife was working at the time.
I think one of the things that stood out about Doc was his love of family. His love for his wife Barb and his children struck me the most. He would literally just disappear from the hospital to watch Bud's baseball or basketball games.
Another thing about Doc was how hard he worked. When I first started, we were open 8 AM to 8 PM and we were not closed for lunch. He would go to lunch, then I would go, taking turns. Sometimes he just skipped lunch. He took Wednesdays "off" by driving to Salem and working at the farm with "Big John" Meisner. Sometimes he worked on grooming between seeing clients. He was also a very good surgeon and was one of the few vets back in the day to do ACL surgeries. Of course later on, he coached high school basketball (shouting from the bench the entire game) and really got involved with Stow Youth Baseball. I remember my brother and I driving over to see the Stow Youth Baseball building being built-and there was Doc working on it. And I'll never forget him leaving the hospital to "drag the fields" preparing for a baseball game.
And then there was Doc's determination. If he wanted something done-it got done. One of the funniest memories I have about Doc happened on a cold winter with almost blizzard conditions. Doc always plowed our parking lot at the hospital. But on this day, his truck was in for repairs. He wrapped himself up in a blanket, jumped in his open-aired jeep and plowed the parking lot during the raging snowstorm. I can still see him with the blanket covered in snow and just his eyes visible! But he got it done! Determination plus with some stubbornness mixed in.
The last few years have been tough for all of you, but these memories will last forever.
