Jerry Leyendecker
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After LHS graduation I went down to Chicago to attend the Roosevelt Conservatory of Music for a few months. Thereafter I went to Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and majored in music at the Wisconsin State College there for a year. Rather than return, I hooked up with a rock band from St. Louis and wound up in Los Angeles, California, and went bust, sold my saxophone and joined the US Army in January 1963.
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Spent most of my army time in Germany. Discharged in January ’66, I came back to Wisconsin and attended the UW-Oshkosh and earned a BA in International Studies in ’69. Went on to Denver, Colorado, to earn a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the University of Denver in ’70.
With that ticket I was able to spend the next ten years in local government as a City Clerk and Treasurer, Sheridan, Wyoming, Village Administrator, Oakdale, Minnesota, City Manager, Miami Springs, Florida, and Assistant County Manager of Economic Development, Dade (Miami) County until 1979. Whereupon I quit the ‘government’ business and went into the commercial real estate business in 1980 as broker and property manager. This career I pursued until 1990 when I was appointed to a position with the South Florida Regional Training and Employment Council as a developer and director of employment and training programs with that agency, a position that I held until I retired in 2003. Along the way I married Robin Perry (LHS Class of ’64) in 1968. We have three children and three grandchildren, two of which live in New Zealand and one here in Gainesville. We divorced in 1986, but remain connected by our children and grandchildren and have a cordial relationship.
Upon retirement I relocated to Gainesville, Florida, where I have lived since in complete happiness (paradise). In 2004 I got back in contact with my bandmates in the ‘Comets’ and together we assembled in 2005 to perform a reunion gig for the Class of 1960 at the Silver Valley Supper Club, which was a smashing success by all accounts. We even got a proclamation from the Manitowoc City Council for our efforts as the first rock ‘n’ roll band formed in Manitowoc (1957). It was a proud moment of recognition for us all. Since then, I have set up a little company to buy, refurbish, and sell ‘Vintage’ trumpets, trombones and saxophones (1925 to 1965). It keeps me busy and interested in the history of quality brass instrument manufactures of that period, and a little bit of cash to show also. I have in my personal collection some of the rarest and best horns ever made in the USA, and that gives me a great sense of pride. Nothing better than retirement! Sine Die
With that ticket I was able to spend the next ten years in local government as a City Clerk and Treasurer, Sheridan, Wyoming, Village Administrator, Oakdale, Minnesota, City Manager, Miami Springs, Florida, and Assistant County Manager of Economic Development, Dade (Miami) County until 1979. Whereupon I quit the ‘government’ business and went into the commercial real estate business in 1980 as broker and property manager. This career I pursued until 1990 when I was appointed to a position with the South Florida Regional Training and Employment Council as a developer and director of employment and training programs with that agency, a position that I held until I retired in 2003. Along the way I married Robin Perry (LHS Class of ’64) in 1968. We have three children and three grandchildren, two of which live in New Zealand and one here in Gainesville. We divorced in 1986, but remain connected by our children and grandchildren and have a cordial relationship.
Upon retirement I relocated to Gainesville, Florida, where I have lived since in complete happiness (paradise). In 2004 I got back in contact with my bandmates in the ‘Comets’ and together we assembled in 2005 to perform a reunion gig for the Class of 1960 at the Silver Valley Supper Club, which was a smashing success by all accounts. We even got a proclamation from the Manitowoc City Council for our efforts as the first rock ‘n’ roll band formed in Manitowoc (1957). It was a proud moment of recognition for us all. Since then, I have set up a little company to buy, refurbish, and sell ‘Vintage’ trumpets, trombones and saxophones (1925 to 1965). It keeps me busy and interested in the history of quality brass instrument manufactures of that period, and a little bit of cash to show also. I have in my personal collection some of the rarest and best horns ever made in the USA, and that gives me a great sense of pride. Nothing better than retirement! Sine Die