I grew up with Leroy. We spent a lot of years together along with Gene Graves and Lois Bean. His Dad, Cletus, was a trucker and somewhere he bought us a real gypsy wagon. What a fun playhouse that was. All through school I was hooked on airplanes and Leroy was obsessed with a perfect crime. He should have been a writer because he wrote about it for years. We would analyze his ideas for hours, as far as we could for our age. His death was tragic I heard and I always wished he would have found me and we could have worked something out. I miss those days and I miss him and his little dog "trigger". She would meet us after school (Northlawn) run up and jump on Leroy and he would say,"down big girl". She was a little brown dog no more than 10" tall.
Leroy Cletus Wildhaber ~~~~~ February 10, 1943 - February 7, 1991 ~~~~~
Dear Leroy, The day you came into this world you cried and the world rejoiced. The day you left we cried and we tucked you away in our hearts.
The day we met you had ridden your tricycle to our house just after our family moved to Baker Street in the spring of 1948. Shy me watched you approach with your great smile and "happy-go-lucky" attitude. We became instant friends and shared great, fun kid times as we grew up together. Our walks to McKinley School were never boring - amazingly we were only late a few times with all the temptations on the way like seeing who could walk the rails along Fourth Street the longest before slipping off or racing to hide from the approaching freight trains, stopping to play with kittens and puppies, watching a great semi-trailer truck go by on Bloomington, etc. etc. Our First Grade teacher was Mrs. Bryan, Beth's Mom, we all loved her dearly. Loved you too Beth. Remember when one of our classmates, who sat behind me, started a fire in his desk? Now that was real excitement. In second grade you sat behind me Leroy and pulled my pig tails when you got bored. No, maybe that was the kid that started the fire. Question for you Leroy - in third grade did you write my name on the wall by the pencil sharpener? Mrs. Kunkle kept our whole class after school waiting for someone to confess. I have always wondered if it was you. By this time you were well on your way to drawing and sketching. You drew the neatest trucks.
During those childhood years we sure did have a great time with our "Baker Street Gang"; meeting at your house for all the fun things kids did then: tag, kick-the-can, cowboys and Indians, "war" (even dug own bunker), cops and robbers, playing in the great Gyspy Wagon your Dad got for you, riding our tricycles and later "two wheeler" bikes, playing touch football, baseball, and basketball at my house....Guess we were like the "Little Rascals" - even let our little sisters tag along. Hey, how about the time you and I had climbed up into the cherry tree in the small orchard north of my house. We were having a great time when all of a sudden - crack- crack - you were quick and jumped. I froze and rode the cherry tree down as it split in half. We ran like the "dickens" and hid in the tall grass, hearts beating rapidly, waiting for someone to give us a good whip'n or something. Turned out no one ever seemed to notice. Guess they thought nature had done it. All the adventures we had - can see why you joined the "Navy" for more. So sorry Leroy that your later path in life took the route it did that tragic day in 1991. I so wish I could have been there for you but sadly it was not meant to be. Miss You!
Kenny - Thank you for the memories. I loved Trigger too! You and Leroy were always "Great Buddies"!
Wow, Lois. Your tribute to Leroy is an exceptional draw upon memories...and while they were yours about Leroy, the scenarios could certainly apply in large part to all of us as we grew up in a small Midwest town "back in the day".
I don't remember a lot about Leroy, but definitely recall his perpetual smile, the twinkle in his eyes, and an ability to always amuse us.
I got to know Leroy at Northlawn. Remeber it was our first attempt at learning to dance and Coach Hamilton, the gym teacher and coach of every sport, had us all line up in the gym. We paired up to learn the box waltz. I drew Leroy. My mother teased me about that for the next 40 years. He was very funny and I was sorry to learn how he died.
These are wonderful tributes. I know LeRoy's son very well....Colton...My son married his cousin. She was over today and I showed her this page...it made her cry. I gave her the web site so Colton could read the memories of his dad. I am sure he will be very happy to see his dad remembered like this.
Ken Crosiar
I grew up with Leroy. We spent a lot of years together along with Gene Graves and Lois Bean. His Dad, Cletus, was a trucker and somewhere he bought us a real gypsy wagon. What a fun playhouse that was. All through school I was hooked on airplanes and Leroy was obsessed with a perfect crime. He should have been a writer because he wrote about it for years. We would analyze his ideas for hours, as far as we could for our age. His death was tragic I heard and I always wished he would have found me and we could have worked something out. I miss those days and I miss him and his little dog "trigger". She would meet us after school (Northlawn) run up and jump on Leroy and he would say,"down big girl". She was a little brown dog no more than 10" tall.
Lois Bean (Haas)
Leroy Cletus Wildhaber ~~~~~ February 10, 1943 - February 7, 1991 ~~~~~
Dear Leroy, The day you came into this world you cried and the world rejoiced. The day you left we cried and we tucked you away in our hearts.
The day we met you had ridden your tricycle to our house just after our family moved to Baker Street in the spring of 1948. Shy me watched you approach with your great smile and "happy-go-lucky" attitude. We became instant friends and shared great, fun kid times as we grew up together. Our walks to McKinley School were never boring - amazingly we were only late a few times with all the temptations on the way like seeing who could walk the rails along Fourth Street the longest before slipping off or racing to hide from the approaching freight trains, stopping to play with kittens and puppies, watching a great semi-trailer truck go by on Bloomington, etc. etc. Our First Grade teacher was Mrs. Bryan, Beth's Mom, we all loved her dearly. Loved you too Beth. Remember when one of our classmates, who sat behind me, started a fire in his desk? Now that was real excitement. In second grade you sat behind me Leroy and pulled my pig tails when you got bored. No, maybe that was the kid that started the fire. Question for you Leroy - in third grade did you write my name on the wall by the pencil sharpener? Mrs. Kunkle kept our whole class after school waiting for someone to confess. I have always wondered if it was you. By this time you were well on your way to drawing and sketching. You drew the neatest trucks.
During those childhood years we sure did have a great time with our "Baker Street Gang"; meeting at your house for all the fun things kids did then: tag, kick-the-can, cowboys and Indians, "war" (even dug own bunker), cops and robbers, playing in the great Gyspy Wagon your Dad got for you, riding our tricycles and later "two wheeler" bikes, playing touch football, baseball, and basketball at my house....Guess we were like the "Little Rascals" - even let our little sisters tag along. Hey, how about the time you and I had climbed up into the cherry tree in the small orchard north of my house. We were having a great time when all of a sudden - crack- crack - you were quick and jumped. I froze and rode the cherry tree down as it split in half. We ran like the "dickens" and hid in the tall grass, hearts beating rapidly, waiting for someone to give us a good whip'n or something. Turned out no one ever seemed to notice. Guess they thought nature had done it. All the adventures we had - can see why you joined the "Navy" for more. So sorry Leroy that your later path in life took the route it did that tragic day in 1991. I so wish I could have been there for you but sadly it was not meant to be. Miss You!
Kenny - Thank you for the memories. I loved Trigger too! You and Leroy were always "Great Buddies"!
Bonnie Beall
Wow, Lois. Your tribute to Leroy is an exceptional draw upon memories...and while they were yours about Leroy, the scenarios could certainly apply in large part to all of us as we grew up in a small Midwest town "back in the day".
I don't remember a lot about Leroy, but definitely recall his perpetual smile, the twinkle in his eyes, and an ability to always amuse us.
Craig Roberts
I got to know Leroy at Northlawn. Remeber it was our first attempt at learning to dance and Coach Hamilton, the gym teacher and coach of every sport, had us all line up in the gym. We paired up to learn the box waltz. I drew Leroy. My mother teased me about that for the next 40 years. He was very funny and I was sorry to learn how he died.
Linda Craft (McMahan)
These are wonderful tributes. I know LeRoy's son very well....Colton...My son married his cousin. She was over today and I showed her this page...it made her cry. I gave her the web site so Colton could read the memories of his dad. I am sure he will be very happy to see his dad remembered like this.