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November 13, 2014
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Monday, November 17, 2014 from 2-4 & 7-9 PM. Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 AM on Tuesday at the funeral home. Interment will follow at Laurel Grove Cemetery, Totowa.
Leon “Link” Charles Schweizer, Sr., age 91 of Wayne, died on Thursday, November 13, 2014.
Born in Boonton, the youngest of John and Edna May’s ten children, he grew up in Elmwood Park, Saddle Brook and Fair Lawn. His parents were in the restaurant business and his mother passed when he was only five years old. When Link was living in Fair Lawn, he attended high school in Paterson, riding his bike there every day, because he liked that school more than the one in Fair Lawn.
Link met his wife Eleanor (Vanderhoff) and they married in 1943, right before he shipped off to join the war. He served in the U.S. Army with the 82nd Airborne 509thParachute Infantry Battalion. As a paratrooper, he was first dropped into Africa and later into Rome, Italy. While in Italy, he was wounded and, as the story goes, a nice Italian woman hid him from Mussolini’s forces until he could safely be transported to a nearby hospital. As a result of his injury, Link never fought on D-Day but he was there in Italy to witness Mussolini’s execution by the Italian army.
Upon his return from the war, Link moved into the family home in Wayne and, as they say, he hung his trousers on the bed post. Nine months later he and Eleanor welcomed the first of four dear children – a baby girl which they named Penny. Together, he and Eleanor raised their family including their other children: Sherry, Ruth and Leon, Jr. Link and Eleanor celebrated sixty-seven years of a loving and devoted marriage until Eleanor’s passing in 2011.
Link worked as a foreman with Mac Molding (later called Mac Wayne Plastics) of Wayne for over twenty-five years until retiring in 1977. In his spare time he enjoyed fishing – mostly freshwater, and hunting – mostly deer and pheasant. In his working days, he usually worked swing shifts which oftentimes left him very tired. As a result, he sometimes used the excuse of going hunting just to escape into the woods to take a peaceful nap. Following retirement, he enjoyed spending some time with his son Leon, Jr. as together they ran a small painting business. After those days of jumping from airplanes caught up with him and his knees gave out, Link and Eleanor began enjoying time at the casinos in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and at the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, PA. Link had a loving relationship with his grandkids and great-grandkids and enjoyed watching them grow up.
Link will always be remembered, adored and respected by his family who he loved passionately! His love for his country was a very close second!
Surviving are his four children; Penny Casey of Hamburg, NJ, Sherry Schweizer of Wayne, Ruth Wilbert and her husband Bruce of Dingmans Ferry, PA, and Leon Jr. of Wayne; three grandchildren: Kimberly Rogers and her husband Tom of Lake Placid, FL, Ernie Christensen, Jr. and his wife Janmarie of Hamburg, NJ, and Dr. Charity Wilkinson of Jersey City, NJ; and five great grandchildren: Crystal and Thomas Rogers of Lake Placid, FL, Michael and Daniel Christensen of Hamburg, NJ, and Greer Mui Truong of Jersey City, NJ.
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Monday, November 17, 2014 from 2-4 & 7-9 PM. Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 AM on Tuesday at the funeral home. Interment will follow at Laurel Grove Cemetery, Totowa.
November 13, 2014
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Monday, November 17, 2014 from 2-4 & 7-9 PM. Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 AM on Tuesday at the funeral home. Interment will follow at Laurel Grove Cemetery, Totowa.
Leon “Link” Charles Schweizer, Sr., age 91 of Wayne, died on Thursday, November 13, 2014.
Born in Boonton, the youngest of John and Edna May’s ten children, he grew up in Elmwood Park, Saddle Brook and Fair Lawn. His parents were in the restaurant business and his mother passed when he was only five years old. When Link was living in Fair Lawn, he attended high school in Paterson, riding his bike there every day, because he liked that school more than the one in Fair Lawn.
Link met his wife Eleanor (Vanderhoff) and they married in 1943, right before he shipped off to join the war. He served in the U.S. Army with the 82nd Airborne 509thParachute Infantry Battalion. As a paratrooper, he was first dropped into Africa and later into Rome, Italy. While in Italy, he was wounded and, as the story goes, a nice Italian woman hid him from Mussolini’s forces until he could safely be transported to a nearby hospital. As a result of his injury, Link never fought on D-Day but he was there in Italy to witness Mussolini’s execution by the Italian army.
Upon his return from the war, Link moved into the family home in Wayne and, as they say, he hung his trousers on the bed post. Nine months later he and Eleanor welcomed the first of four dear children – a baby girl which they named Penny. Together, he and Eleanor raised their family including their other children: Sherry, Ruth and Leon, Jr. Link and Eleanor celebrated sixty-seven years of a loving and devoted marriage until Eleanor’s passing in 2011.
Link worked as a foreman with Mac Molding (later called Mac Wayne Plastics) of Wayne for over twenty-five years until retiring in 1977. In his spare time he enjoyed fishing – mostly freshwater, and hunting – mostly deer and pheasant. In his working days, he usually worked swing shifts which oftentimes left him very tired. As a result, he sometimes used the excuse of going hunting just to escape into the woods to take a peaceful nap. Following retirement, he enjoyed spending some time with his son Leon, Jr. as together they ran a small painting business. After those days of jumping from airplanes caught up with him and his knees gave out, Link and Eleanor began enjoying time at the casinos in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and at the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, PA. Link had a loving relationship with his grandkids and great-grandkids and enjoyed watching them grow up.
Link will always be remembered, adored and respected by his family who he loved passionately! His love for his country was a very close second!
Surviving are his four children; Penny Casey of Hamburg, NJ, Sherry Schweizer of Wayne, Ruth Wilbert and her husband Bruce of Dingmans Ferry, PA, and Leon Jr. of Wayne; three grandchildren: Kimberly Rogers and her husband Tom of Lake Placid, FL, Ernie Christensen, Jr. and his wife Janmarie of Hamburg, NJ, and Dr. Charity Wilkinson of Jersey City, NJ; and five great grandchildren: Crystal and Thomas Rogers of Lake Placid, FL, Michael and Daniel Christensen of Hamburg, NJ, and Greer Mui Truong of Jersey City, NJ.
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