Leo William Stockwell

Leo Stockwell was born on November 22nd, 1931 to Bertha and Leo Stockwell Sr. in Hartford, Connecticut. He grew up outside of Hartford in Wethersfield, the middle child of 3 including his older sister Frances and his younger brother Gilbert who are both long passed.

He would tell stories about growing up in Connecticut, playing with the baby goats on his friend’s farm, having a paper route which he basically used as an excuse to get homemade cookies from the local women and his Mom’s great dinners made with the vegetables she grew in her garden. There was also a disturbing story about him and his buddies lighting off firecrackers in frogs’ mouths. He just smiled when we told him that’s how Gacy started.

As a young man he liked many sports and decided to try out for the track team. After barely making it running around the 2nd turn he saw some pole-vaulters practicing and decided that was his calling …. much shorter run. By his senior year he was very good and ended up placing 3rd in the state finals.

In his late teens he joined the army and was stationed in Chicago. It was there that one evening, strolling along the lake front with some army buddies, a group of girls (including one Micki Seufert) stopped to talk to them. That was the beginning.

Dad would tell us stories of coming over to pick Mom up for a date and finding her chasing one of her brothers down the “gangway”, yelling and throwing shoes at them. He wasn’t scared. Much. Dad would always say what a wonderful woman Grandma Seufert was and how she always welcomed anyone in and offered a cup of the perpetual pot of coffee on the stove. He really loved Mom but also loved her family. His family growing up was very divided and he said he really liked that although they had their battles, Mom’s family members were always there for each other.

They were married on July 17th, 1954 at St. Augustine’s Church in Chicago. They lived in the city, close to Micki’s family and spent much time with all the extended Seufert clan. In 1959 they started their family with an experimental prototype named Dan. Quickly thinking they could do better (not saying they were right) 15 or so months later Dave was born. “Another smelly boy” said Micki, I want something sweet and pretty. So, a few years later, you guessed it, Sandy ! (Can you tell who helped write this ? ) Once child #4 was expected (they thought numbering them would be more efficient) they decided the two-flat was not going to cut it so they bought a house out in the suburbs. Cute little baby Sue arrived a little before the new house was ready and the six-pack headed to 2422 Stonewall in Woodridge.

Dad would still talk about how great Mom was at moving the sprinkler around all day to get the newly planted grass to grow, how he had to yell at the kids endlessly to “stop grabbing the TREES !”, “Quit stomping my flowers” , “Find another father !” or some such thing as we ran around playing whatever crazy game we invented and tearing the yard apart. Even with all the yelling they ended up with another lovely daughter, Cindy and another smelly boy, Paul.

For the majority of his career Leo worked for AT & T (in its various incarnations, Western Electric, AT & T and then Lucent). He was an Accountant, then an Industrial Engineer (efficiency expert, vital skills when trying to corral 6 kids) and finally a Computer Programmer. He was famous for getting all the way home from work and Mom saying “Where’s [insert kid’s name here] ? You were supposed to pick them up from [insert “school”, some sport or some friend’s name here]. Then off the Volkswagen would go to snag the missing child.

Dad has always been an amazing gardener producing luscious tomatoes, giant cucumbers and beautiful flowers throughout the summer. His giant red tulips are blooming even as we speak. He enjoyed wood-working, playing the guitar (or the battered accordion Mom found at a Garage Sale) and building radio-control model airplanes. Dad enjoyed playing games and oft schooled his children on the finer points of one of the myriad of choices in the “game closet”. He taught most of us to be good winners AND good losers. Most of us …. Dan.

There were many evenings of Dad sitting with us in the kitchen quizzing us about our homework long after “Starsky & Hutch” had started, much to our frustration, Saturday mornings when “cleaning time “ started waaay before “Land of the Lost” ended and many guitar solos of “You Don’t Have to be a Baby to Cry” just shortly after the crying had already started. It didn’t help the crying.

Dad wasn’t a religious man, mostly attending church because Mom wanted him to go, as an example to the kids. What the kids remember is Dad “meditating” during the homily, sometimes with snoring, sometimes without. He didn’t think that is was as important to do all the “religiousy” stuff as it was to set a good example. Once when the kids were little the family went out for pizza. This was a BIG deal as a meal out was rare due to Mom’s admirable frugality. (Had to put the “admirable” part in case she’s reading this.) When the little “pay tray” was returned with Dad’s change, there was his change AND the original $20 bill. He immediately called the waitress over and gave her the $20. Nothing monumental, but an illustration of how he lived as a hard-working, good and honest person. Not loud (like us), not flashy (like Cindy), just a good, responsible father, husband and friend, kind to everyone he met (except car salesmen and Christmas Carolers. He really didn’t like car sales men for some reason and tended to slam the door on the singer) and ready to help anyone who needed it.

After retirement Dad expanded his hobby list to include almost-weekly casino trips with Micki, checking his stocks on the stock channel (cha-ching !) and increased crossword puzzle time. Micki and Leo would spend time with their kids when they could stand them and pretend not to be home when they needed some peace and quiet. Micki passed away in April of 2012 and although Dad was very self-sufficient (“I took care of myself before I was married.” A hundred years ago …) he missed Micki and would wake up from naps on the couch sometimes and say he thought he heard her calling him.

In September of 2013 we found out that he had leukemia. He started a series of treatments that worked for a short period but then his numbers went up again. They tried an oral medication but it didn’t work. He had just started a different chemotherapy treatment but unfortunately there were complications resulting in a brief hospital stay ending with his passing in the early morning hours of Thursday, May 8th.

Two years ago when Dad found out that there was no more the doctors could do to help Mom, he told her to find a nice bungalow in heaven for them and she told him “Stay away from floozies”. A couple weeks ago, when talking about his leukemia and his potential passing he said “I was just thinking that maybe Micki has a boyfriend in heaven and I’ll have to kick him out of the bungalow.” That boyfriend doesn’t have a chance.

Leo will be remembered for his mellifluous renditions of “She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain”, his love for Mom’s spaghetti, swearing at various Chicago Bull’s players for missing easy layups, his series of Volkswagen Beetles that somehow seated 8, playing the slot machines at a pace that would make a snail say “Let’s move along !”, tomatoes, tomatoes and more tomatoes. Also his quiet way (unless you made Mom mad, then you heard some yelling), becoming one with the couch during naptime, taking the kids to Cantigny or the Arboretum, painting pictures of birds and enjoying a good steak with grilled onions. Mostly we will remember how he taught us to be good and kind people to everyone.

Beloved husband of 57 years to the late Lorraine Stockwell; loving father of Dan (Diana) Stockwell, Dave (Tracy) Stockwell, Sandra (Jim) Gudenkauf, Sue (Tim) Anderson, Cindy (Pete) Schroeder, Paul (Jessica) Stockwell; cherished grandfather of Howard, Bob, James, Shirley, Gregory, Andy and Maggie; dear great-grandfather of Lennon; fond uncle and friend to many. In lieu of flowers, please donate to St. Judes 501 St. Jude Place Memphis, TN 38105 or Doctors Without Borders 333 7th Ave. (2nd floor) New York, NY 10001. Visitation Sunday, May 11 from 4-8pm at Blake-Lamb Funeral Home, 5015 Lincoln Avenue (On Rt. 53, ½ mile south of Ogden Ave./ Rt. 34) where prayers will take place on Monday at 9:15am and lead to St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, 820 Division St., Lisle IL 60532. Burial to follow at Clarendon Hills Cemetery, Darien, IL. For information call the funeral home at (630) 964-9392.