Stan Leon didn’t have much formal education, but he had a lot to teach those around him.
“With only a high school diploma, my dad was one of the smartest and most compassionate businessmen I’ve ever known,” said his son, Tim Leon, 62. “I got more from watching him and the way he treated people than I did from my MBA degree.”
Mr. Leon died Feb. 20 at age 88 from complications of heart disease. He had been in the auto parts sales business for more than half a century.
He grew up in Festus, went to the old Sacred Heart Catholic School and graduated from Festus High School.
“He played basketball, but he wasn’t a starting athlete or anything,” Tim said. “He played trumpet in the band, and he played in a couple of bands in town after high school. The last one was called the Nu Notes.”
Mr. Leon and a friend bought the Phillips 66 service station at the corner of Main Street and Grand Avenue in Festus. He also went to work at Crystal Auto Parts.
“He was a counter man and delivered parts and traveled around getting orders,” Tim said. “He worked for the owner, Joe Schmidt, for many years.”
Mr. Leon and his longtime best friend, Roy Burnside, went to a basketball game at Festus where June Coleman was a cheerleader for the visiting De Soto team.
“Roy said they walked in the game and my dad saw her, looked at Roy and said, ‘I’m going to marry that girl.’ Roy said, ‘Stan, what’s a girl from De Soto going to do with a guy like you?’ But within a week they went on their first date.”
They were married in January 1959 and settled in Festus, welcoming Tim in 1960 and daughter Liz in 1964.
“We moved to Crystal City in the mid-60s,” Tim recalled. “My dad went to work for (the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co.). While he was working there, he laid brick on the side with Bob Hill. They did jobs at just dozens of houses – planters, sidewalks. They did a brick bar in our basement.
“In the early 70s, he got laid off from PPG, and that’s when he started L&S Parts in Park Hills. My grandfather delivered parts. Later they hired two counter men, Rich Shibley and Neil Hudson, and they were with my dad till he sold the store.”
Tim said his mom also worked in the business.
“My mom did the books, worked the counter,” Tim said. “They worked together all day and then came home and had to be Mom and Dad, husband and wife. I don’t know how they did it.”
The Leons were active members of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Crystal City.
“Dad was baptized there, was a lifelong member,” Tim said. “He was an usher for many years, up until just a few years ago.”
The family enjoyed being outdoors, especially on the water.
“Before they had us, they were always at the lake,” Tim said. “We always had a ski boat, and he taught us.
“We had a lake lot at Laguna Palma near De Soto where we had a boat, and we’d fish or have a picnic lunch. We’d go to Lake of the Ozarks; we went trout fishing at Montauk.”
Mr. Leon also was an auto racing fan.
“We went to the Indy 500 for a number of years, and he always watched the Daytona 500,” Tim said.
Bowling was another hobby.
“He bowled in a league at Quonset for many years on Wednesday nights,” Tim said.
Despite their busy schedules, the Leons were supportive of their children.
“He loved baseball, and coached my Little League team for many years,” Tim said. “My sister was a dancer, and they went to her recitals. But it was hard for them, timewise, especially being open on Saturdays. It was a real balancing act.”
Tim said he and his sister were always impressed by their father’s competence.
“I remember learning so many things from him,” Tim said. “He could make anything, fix anything. I felt like he was a great teacher and we were always amazed.”
The Leons visited Sanibel Island in Florida and fell in love, going back for many vacations over the years. When they retired in the mid-1990s, they bought a place at Lake of the Ozarks, where they spent a lot of time with their children and their seven grandchildren.
“He took each of the grandkids on a trip for their eighth-grade graduation,” Tim said. “Hawaii, Disney World, Grand Cayman – the kids have vivid memories of these unforgettable trips.”
Mr. Leon had a heart valve replacement at 75, then double hip replacement a few years later.
“That gave him kind of a new lease on life,” Tim said. “He was really mobile.”
The death of his wife in May 2022, however, brought a change.
“He never got over losing Mom. They were inseparable,” Tim said. “They did everything together for half a century and they loved it.
“He was diagnosed with heart failure, but my sister and I both think he had a broken heart. He didn’t want to be here without Mom.”
Tim said his dad’s perfectionism was the butt of many jokes.
“I always joked that there’s a right way, there’s a wrong way and then there’s Stan’s way,” Tim said. “But he showed how much he loved us by the things he built for us. Every time we use those things, he’s there.”
“Life Story,” posted Saturdays on Leader Publications’ website, focuses on one individual’s impact on his or her community.