Leif N. Backlund

Leif was born in Kansas City, Missouri on July 5,1960 and was the second son of Carl William and Carolyn Denise Backlund. In his early childhood, Leif and his brother Eric spent hours listening and signing to children’s folk music and dancing to their father’s collection of jazz records. In his later childhood, he became fascinated by cars. If we left our car unlocked Leif would always find a way to get in and start messing around with the steering wheel and gear shift.

When Leif was nine, the family moved to Lake Mohawk in Sussex County, New Jersey and has lived around the area ever since. At that time, he in enrolled in Horizon School in Tranquility, where he stayed until he graduated when he was 18 years old. During his elementary, middle and high school years, Leif developed a lifelong enthusiasm for swimming in lakes and the ocean, traveling and staying in hotels, and playing musical instruments including the piano, guitar, clarinet, drums, and trumpet.

Leif was a client of SCARC Guardianship Services since 2006. Leif was involved with SCARC recreation before moving into residential services in 1989. Leif started in Fredon Group Home, then spent time in both the Franklin and Sussex Supervised apartments before moving to Newton Group Home where he lived for many years before finally settling at the Hillside Group Home. Leif also attended many different day programs, but he thrived at the Eickmann Center for 10 years before moving to his last placement at the Sparta Center.

Leif was a dedicated musician, who first played the clarinet but later switched to the trumpet. He had a repertoire of songs for any season and spent countless hours practicing and performing. He had many passions for things including Captain Kangaroo, folk music (especially Ed McCurdy), Sesame Street, policemen, and collecting 1960’s memorabilia and games. He had an extensive collection of records and loved to listen to music for hours on end. He was an avid swimmer and biker. Leif had great enthusiasm for the things he loved. He would happily tell stories of his glory days at the Newtonian Garden Apartments. He was a snappy dresser who took great pride in his daily hygiene routine.

Leif was very close to his brother, sister-in-law, Jye-Yu, his niece, Alyssa, and her husband, Garrett. He often very excited to sing songs with them and to talk about his dreams. He was tickled pink upon receiving news that he became a great uncle in late October, when Alyssa was blessed with her first child, Emma. Leif greatly missed his devoted late mother and father. He also developed a lifelong love for and devotion to his guardian, Jennifer, and the many staff who cared for him at the Newton and Hillside Group Homes and the rest of SCARC.

Leif will be sorely missed by all who were lucky enough to know him. A memorial visitation for Leif will be held on Monday, January 27th, 2025 from 10am-12pm at Smith-McCracken Funeral Home 63 High Street, Newton, NJ 07860 with a Memorial Service taking place at 12pm. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Leif’s memory to SCARC Guardianship Services, Inc. 11 US Route 206, Suite 100 Augusta, NJ 07822.