Written by Robert P. Leonard, Son of Clair Leonard and Blanche Ellison, Grandson of Leopold and Zoe Ellen (Powell) Leonard, and Nephew to Max Leonard.
November 15, 2003
The earliest thing I remember about Max was that he had polio at an early age. It was something that none of us wanted to get but Max was the unfortunate one. I remember how there was no cure at the time we were growing up and they did not know how to treat it for sure. I remember the ‘Iron Lung’ that kids would have to go into for hours or days at a time. This was the so called cure for polio but it did not. The doctors didn’t know that exercise and heat would be the best things to save the legs and body from the deterioration effects. A women Doctor or nurse was the first to prove this and she had to convince others of the correct treatment in the early days. Max did not get the treatment he needed and lost most of the control of his leg. I don’t know if it is correct to mention all of this but it was a very tough thing for Max and his parents to deal with at the time.
Max did not let the polio hold him back. Max must have known that the use of his mind was going to be his biggest asset for the rest of his life and profession. Max graduated from Carbon High and then went on to the University of Utah where he obtained his degree. He must have been a teacher after he graduated, at Carbon High School. He taught Geri (Cima) Turnbull and others at the High School.
Max taught several years at the High School and then must have applied to the Government Civil Service for a job and got a position as an Educator. The government as I recall sent him, eventually, to England in the early 1950’s. This would have been not to long after World War II. I remember him going to England and the next thing I remember was that he was married to an English girl (Jean Morley). I was told by my father Clair (brother to Max) that Max was doing well and was advancing in his work as an educator. Next thing I remember, Max was transferred to Germany and took his family to live in Wiesbaden, Germany. I had no idea where that was until later.
Dad was writing letters to Max and every so many months we would get a letter from Max. He would write and tell Dad how busy he was and that everything was going fine. He would write and tell us how he and his family would travel on weekends and holidays to different places in Europe. Max would tell of places that were hundreds and hundreds of years old, places that Kings lived and about Great Ski areas in Bavaria. Many other wonders for us to hear about back here in little old Utah. Our history in Utah only went back about 100 years at that time. Max was in Germany in the 1950’s and our Pioneers only settled Utah in late 1847.
Max encouraged my father Clair (His brother) to come over and see him as they would write back and forth to each other. My dad thought about it and the more he thought about it the more he convinced himself that he and the family should go over to Europe while Max was still there. (He was happy after the trip that he had made the decision to go. He liked it so much he went back again with Stanley and Beth to see Max, Jean and Europe.)
Clair finally decided that he and mother were going the next spring (1957) and get tickets on the ship Queen Elizabeth. Dad said I could go if I spent the savings I had at that time which was about $450 and Dad would put up the rest of the money, which was about half the cost. The money I had saved was for two years of work. I was a custodian at my Junior High and the next year I work for Fred Markam Architect. Lynette my sister who was six years old also went. I was 16 years old at the time. I was in my sophomore year, 10th grade at Provo High School. I had to get special permission from all the teachers and the Principal to go for about a month. My history teacher said that I had to give a special report to all her history class when I returned, which I did. I lectured presented over 100 slides of the places I saw and visited in Europe and told the class of all the interesting places that I had saw in Old Europe. The teacher was pleased. The students were wishing they could have gone to Europe also. This was the most educational trip and experience that I had had in my life up to that time and is still remembered. Max and Jean made this possible for us by us staying with them and using their car. (Not the Porsche).
We had a great trip across the United States by car and then boarded the Ship Bremerhaven in New York City, N.Y. (the Queen Elizabeth did not work out for our schedule etc). Bremerhaven was the City and the Port in Germany we sailed to and from there we took the Train south to Frankfurt, Germany. Max met us at the train station in Frankfurt and we all piled in his little English car and went to his apartment in Wiesbaden, about 30 minutes away.
After staying with Max, Jean and family (Mark and Mike) for a few days Max offered to take us to see Germany within a day’s drive and back again. After a good visit with Max and family, Max offered his car to Clair and family to go and visit some other Countries for about the next week. We then went North along the Rhine River up to Cologne and then on in to Amsterdam, Holland. We traveled next to Brussels, Belgium and then to see the World’s Fair in Antwerp, Belgium. We then went to Paris, France and then back to Germany to stay with Max, Jean and Family for a few more days and rest up and then on to Southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and then back north to home base again with Max and Jean. I still remember their apartment in Wiesbaden and the Air Base.
Max and Jean were very good hosts and treated us with the utmost cordiality. Max would always tell us the best route to take and the best places to stay. He arranged for us to be able to get gas and food at the various PX’s around in Germany and France.
I remember Max took my parents and myself to the Best Hotel in Wiesbaden one night and treated us to a good time. We had dinner inside and later went outside where there was a beautiful dance floor in the garden. The dancing was for the young people and the adults. They had a live band playing all night. Max, Jean, Clair and my mother Blanche all went in to see the gambling hall connected to the Hotel. I stayed and watched the young kids dancing while they were gone. It was a most memorable time that night, a beautiful setting, and the Hotel was new and I think owned by the American Government.
Max, as I recall, was an Elementary Principal at the time. Jean fixed us good meals and Mike and Mark were still young enough that they kept everyone entertained. Lynette says she remembers Mike and Mark giving her a rough time and only being six years old could not defend very well against two active older young boys. There were a lot of good things to remember and we had a great time at Max and Jean’s house while we were traveling and seeing Europe.
Several years later in about 1966-67, after I was married, Max, Jean and Boys come to visit me, Janet and our first son Scott in our apartment in Salt Lake in the Rose Park area by the river on Cornell Street. We had a good visit while they were here in the U.S. for a vacation. Max may have brought a Porsche automobile from Germany with him at this time to sell and help pay for their trip, it was something you could do then and make a profit. I think Mark learned well from his Dad on how to make money on cars. Max loved to drive his several Porsche cars he owned. In Germany with no speed limit Max loved to open it up and cruise a little on the high side of the speedometer.
Max returned several times to the U.S. before retiring. He visited all his brothers and sisters while he was here. Max wanted to retire in a warm climate where it didn’t rain as much and they could have more sunny days. He picked the right place near San Diego. He and Jean have enjoyed their time in retirement in San Diego and at Palm Desert, Calif.
Max brought his father, Leopold, over to Germany to show him what Europe was like and Grandpa went after Zoe died and he was alone. Leopold was 79 and had never flown on an airplane. He was amazed at the form of travel and how quick he got to Germany from the U.S. Max and Lee took Leo all over Germany to see the sights and Leo really enjoyed seeing everything. Leo contracted pneumonia while he was in Germany and had to be air-flighted home by the military. He was brought to the old St. Marks Hospital, in the north west of salt Lake where he never recovered. He was with Max and Lee in Germany when he turned 80.
Max was not able to come home and be at his Dad’s Funeral but I know he wanted to be there, he loved his Dad.
Max retired and came home and was active with his family here in Utah and became the President of the Leonard Family Association. He got us better organized and we still miss his leadership and fellowship to this day. He wanted the family to succeed in our goals that were set out by the Association. Max was frustrated at times with the family but kept on working to do what had to be done.
Max had a wealth of knowledge and loved to learn. Max had a lot of his mother’s DNA, all good. He was a hard worker. He loved to learn. He loved to travel and learn of the worlds past history. He was a leader. He was an organizer. He was ambitious. He knew how to pick a good wife that would put up with his special temperament and that’s a good thing. It gave him his drive as it does all of Zoe and Leo’s descendants. Max was a doer. Max was a living example of John A. Powell’s motto: Be lifters and builders not someone who sets around and does nothing.
Max is now with the rest of his family that he did not get much of a chance to see during his adulthood and life here on earth. He will enjoy being with them and will be a doer and builder on the other side. I know this does not do Max justice in how I remember him but when your memory fades over the years, what can you do?
So long Max and happy trails in your continuing life somewhere on the other side. See you soon.
Robert P. Leonard
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