Leonard Edward "Len" Grassmann

Leonard Edward Grassmann, 96, of Wales, WI, passed away on December 29th, 2024, in Waukesha, WI.
Leonard was born in Syracuse, NY to Leonard Grassmann Sr. and Anna (Walsh) Grassmann on January 16th, 1928. Len's father passed away when Len was just seven years old, leaving Len, his baby sister Joan, and Len's young mother to fend for themselves. Len's mom, Anna, was a feisty, spirited and determined young woman who worked tirelessly to support her young family, and she succeeded. This work ethic and spirited determination would become hallmark characteristics of Leonard's for the remainder of his life. After graduating high school in 1946, Len was drafted into an Army parachute Division that served as part of the occupation forces in Japan. Len's unit was based in Sendai and he was able to travel down to Tokyo when on leave with his Army buddies. One of Len's favorite stories was about the time he walked past Gen. MacArthur in Tokyo and neglected to salute the General. MacArthur stopped Private Grassmann in his tracks and gave him "A Good Talking To" right there on the sidewalk in front of HQ.
In 1947, Len returned to Syracuse and met a young lady named Elaine Buckley, at a social dance, and they began dating. Len enrolled at LeMoyne College in 1948 and married Elaine on October 8th, 1949. During this time period Len became increasingly involved with the Catholic Church as a parish member, lectern and parish council member. Many of his friends, throughout the rest of his life, were Catholic Priests.
Len and Elaine lived in Syracuse, Camillus, NY, Burnt Hills NY and moved to Wales, WI on August 22, 1970. They raised eight loving children who all inherited Len's work ethic, sense of right and wrong, and his love of laughter. Before passing into the Loving Grace of Our Lord, Len was loved by many friends, his family and especially his adoring wife, Elaine.
Len was an avid reader and pushed himself to gain knowledge. He loved books about Catholic Church History, Christian Theology and the Reformation (among others). He earned his undergraduate degree from LeMoyne, then earned two Masters Degrees: A Masters in Business Administration and a Masters in Theology all while supporting a family of 10!
Len had an interesting and varied work career. His first career (as his kids called it), was being employed as an HR Manager for G.E., Clark Oil, then Doerr Electric. A job transfer with G.E. is what brought the Grassmann family to Wisconsin from New York in 1970. In his early years at G.E., Len was in charge of staffing large military projects in Ankara, Turkey and Nome, Alaska and spent several months in each location. These projects were some of the first very large radar arrays the US Government installed at the beginning of "The Cold War" with the USSR. Len left G.E. in the mid 1970's to take a job with Clark Oil. One of Len's favorite perks from the Clark Oil job was frequent use of Emery Clark's Brewers season tickets, right behind the Brewer's dugout! Len left Clark Oil in 1983 and started at Doerr Electric. He'd stay at Doerr until his "First Career" retirement in 1990 at the age of 62.
Len's second career was with St. Paul's Catholic Church in Genesee Depot, WI where he took weekly Holy Communion to the homebound, was a parish councilor, and helped found and run the parish's Sister City Medical Relief Program in Guatemala City, Guatemala. This second career, which spanned 20+ years, was easily the most rewarding work of Len's life. He frequently commented on how fortunate he was to have found such meaningful and useful work after retirement. Len's main hobby was gardening. No one had a larger or more productive vegetable garden than he did. Tending the garden was relaxing for him but it was also necessary because of the number of mouths he needed to feed. In the fall, Len and Elaine would often be found in the kitchen, canning vegetables for the winter.
Len is preceded in death by his parents, Leonard (1935) and Anna (1981), his sister Joan (2013), and his wife, Elaine (2020). Len is survived by his children: Michael, John (Gretchen), Christine, Peter (Lynn), Susan (Larry), Joan, Bernard (Diane) and Larry (Diane); 14 Grandchildren: Michael, Scott, Jeff, Phil, Loren, Joe, Peter, Caity, Scott, Jack, Olivia, Evan, Oliver and Theodore; And ten great-grandchildren: Katie, Aiden, Raegan, Bennett, Myles, Quinn, August, Emerson, Sam and Jake.
Our family thanks the wonderful staff at Avalon Square in Waukesha for the loving spiritual and physical care they provided for Len. We are eternally grateful to you. Your kindness, care and support are a blessing.
A Funeral Mass will be held on Friday Jan. 24th, 11:00am, at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Genesee Depot, WI, with a visitation starting at 10:00am. A luncheon at St. Paul's will follow the mass. A private burial will follow at a later date.
Memorials may be given to: St Paul's Parish Human Concerns or Avalon Square Retirement Community Education Fund.