Leonard Frederick Tischler

Leonard Frederick Tischler passed away on May 30, 2 024, from the effects of old age. He was 98 years old. Len was born on October 17, 1925. He was the eldest son of Leonard Aleksander Tischler and Louise Johanna Meyer and was born in West Hollywood, California, in the small home that his father had recently built. All of his boyhood days were spent there until graduating from Raenford Military Academy in 1942.

Like many of the young men of his generation, Len knew that he would be called upon to serve his country in World War ll, so in 1943 he enlisted in the United States Navy and served aboard the USS Erben in the Pacific Theater for the duration of the war. Although his time in the Navy was brief, it had a profound impact on his life, and he would always be proud to be a veteran.

After the war Len enrolled in the University of California Los Angeles, graduating with a degree in chemistry in 1950. He worked in the rapidly developing field of atomic energy for a number of years, and was the manager of Tracerlab, Inc. in Houston, Texas. Around 1960 he moved his family back to California and was recruited to work for Stanford Research Institute in Palo Alto as a contract administrator. He was to continue with SRI as it came to be known until his retirement in 1990.

Although Len was raised in a devout Lutheran family, as an adult he had not felt the need for organized religion in his own life. That changed, however, when he was introduced to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ by missionaries from the Cupertino California Ward in which he was then living. He recognized that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offered something he very much wanted for himself and for his children, and so they were baptized on May 11, 1968. Len would go on to serve in the Church in various capacities for the remainder of his long life, including as an ordinance worker in the Portland Oregon Temple. He served in this calling for 24 years until age intervened.

Len remained vigorous and active well into his nineties, but eventually old age caught up with him as it does with everyone. Thankfully, he was able to live his final years at home cared for by his wife and his devoted daughter Mary Ann. He remained cheerful and interested in the activities of his family to the end.

Len was preceded in death by his parents and by his brother, Edward Carl Tischler, and sister Dorothy Adeline Tischler. He is survived by his wife Kathy (Boyd) and daughters Mary Louise Tischler of North Logan, Utah; Jeanne Holbrook (Bob) of Smithfield, Utah; Karen Mann (Kent), of Lava Hot Springs, Idaho; and Mary Ann Merlin of Happy Valley, Oregon. Also by sons Stephen Tischler of Dillingham, Alaska and Samuel Tischler (Lauren) of Fremont, California.

Len was a devoted husband, father and grandfather and a valiant servant of his savior Jesus Christ and his Heavenly Father. He will be greatly missed.