Harry Dale Leas 1918-2008
EVANS, LEAS, VANDENBROUCKE, LEAS, BEARDMORE, PALMER
Posted By: Mary Durr (email)
Date: 6/6/2008 at 16:13:09
Harry Dale Leas
Harry Dale Leas died in Columbia, SC April 13, 2008, exactly two months shy of his 90th birthday, after complications with surgery. He was "almost 90" for some time before his death - at least that's what he liked to tell folks. He was proud of being old.
He was proud that he could still drive and walk, albeit with caution and a cane; proud that he could still fit in the same uniform he wore while serving in World War II; proud of a more than 60-year marriage to Bernadine; proud that he had lived to see his four children and six grandchildren grow up and find success.
Harry's lifetime of hard work began in Waterville, where he was born to Harry Orville and Sarah Evans Leas June 13, 1918. He and his three younger siblings, Evelyn, Neil and Lucille, were raised on a 160-acre farm, where the family raised chickens and hogs and grew oats and hay. He walked two miles each way to a one-room country school house.
As a teenager, Dale (as he was known in his youth) cut wood and hauled cream to support the household. He would rise each morning about 4 a.m., fix himself a bowl of cornflakes, and then truck cream from dairy farmers to the Waterville Creamery along a hilly unpaved route - whatever the weather.
When World War II came, Harry was working in aircraft assembly in Baltimore, then in Omaha. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in February 1944 and served as a bombardier in 35 missions over Germany. Harry loved to tell the story of how he came 30 minutes from being declared AWOL - not overseas, but before he ever got there. He nearly missed the train out of Omaha when he decided to take advantage of one last 12-hour leave and headed to a dance in nearby Lincoln. Dancing was too much fun that night, and he missed the last bus back to Omaha. He was forced to make much of the 45-mile journey on foot - barely returning in time to make the 7:30 a.m. train. It was one of many lucky breaks to come.
In those B-17 bomb runs over Germany, "10 minutes felt like 10 hours," he would say. On one run, Harry nearly lost his life when a chunk of flak hit his flak jacket with enough force to propel him off his seat. He was so shaken that his usual post-mission double shot of scotch was tripled that day, when his crew members shared their rations with him.
Harry was honorably discharged from the military in November 1945 and soon found his way back to Omaha, where he met Bernadine, from Elgin, NE. The sight of her in a red dress at the local dance hall one Saturday night had him hooked. They were married May 19, 1947. Their four children, Philip, Linda, Paul and Debbie were born between 1949 and 1959.
By 1950, they had purchased their first home in Omaha. It was the first of dozens of real estate investments Harry and Bernadine owned, renovated and managed over the years. That home was also the first of many that were selected more for the size of their garages and gardens than for the size of their living space. And if a garage didn't suit him, Harry would make it bigger or build another.
Harry's life-long hobby was restoring antique cars and showing them off in car club parades. Through the years, he restored Model Ts from 1910 and 1914, a 1911 Hupmobile, a 1915 Metz and a 1929 Model-A. His favorite was a 1913 Abbott-Detroit. Another favorite - his Edsel - became an antique while sitting in the garage, waiting to be perfectly restored. Harry's tire pump collection was a small part of his vast handyman repertoire.
Harry's first work after the war was running a service station and selling used cars in Omaha. Then after a few years, he became a local driver for Watson Brothers Transportation, now known as Yellow Freight Systems. Altogether, Harry was a teamster for 26 years. He proudly collected his teamster pension for another 26 years and then some - after officially retiring at 58.
But Harry could never completely retire. He was always fixing, thinking, working, itching to move around. After moving to Springfield, MO, he busied himself moving dirt with a bulldozer on a development he owned outside of town. Harry couldn't be stopped from tinkering in the garage - with old cars or new inventions, like his one-of-a-kind squirrel trap made of scrap metal and wood. That makeshift trap, intended to protect Bernadine's fruit trees, caught more song birds than squirrels.
Harry himself was one-of-a-kind. He was a spitfire who was never shy to share a piece of his mind - on subjects like stocks or weather, the war or Wal-Mart. Hearing loss later in life made him more of a story-teller than a listener. He shared some of his World War II memories while visiting Waukon for the 2005 dedication of the Allamakee County Veterans Memorial.
Harry's hard-working way was a constant throughout his life, as was his consistent streak of lucky breaks. His favorite number was 13; he was born June 13 and he died April 13. He was a lucky man.
He is survived by his wife, Bernadine of White Rock, SC; sons Philip of Honolulu, HI and Paul of Columbia, SC; daughters Linda Vandenbroucke and Deborah Leas, both of Omaha, NE; six grandchildren; sisters Evelyn Beardmore and Lucille Palmer. He was predeceased by his brother, Neil.
The Waukon Standard, Wednesday, April 23, 2008
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