Mr. Leroy Nathaniel Callender

Met Leroy at the Army drafting school at Ft. Belvoir in December of 1952. When we completed the course, Leroy was sent to Korea and I was transferred to and stationed at the Port of embarkation in Seattle Washington. When he returned from Korea his troop shipped arrived at the Port in Seattle. Learning Leroy was on the passenger list , as a friend of one on board, I was able to have him debark first. When he saw me he screamed "Steinhardt!". I was surprised he remembered me. Leroy then went on to have a very successful career as a structural engineer in New York and am sorry to know of his passing.

Im deeply saddened by the passing of LeRoy Callender or Roy as his friends and colleagues would call him. Roy was a great man with many facets to his character.

I first met Roy in the early 1990s thru a colleague of ours who recommended me to him for a position as a Construction Manager. Not being familiar with LeRoy Callender, PC (LCPC), I was expecting a small minority firm; however upon entering LCPCs lobby I was greeted by a photo of Philip Johnsons AT&T Chippendale building in midtown Manhattan. Wow, my preconceptions of LCPC were so wrong, the AT&T building was one of the biggest projects in NYC in the 1980s. This just showed that Roy thought in big terms. There were no limits to his drive and ambition.

In addition to the AT&T building, LCPC was involved in the NYU Main Academic Center, Gym and Auditorium, the 900,000 sq. ft. GSA Social Security Bldg in Jamaica, NY; as well as countless NYC School Construction Authority public schools at the outset of that agencys mandate to construct quality school structures in the early 1990s.

Roy had many sides to him, principal was his eagerness to mentor anyone who was willing to work hard and learn. Both Roy and his wife Jackie took an immediate liking to me and took me under their wings. They turned a young inexperienced black architect as myself into a great Architect and Builder with their patience, foresight and no excuses expectations to get the job done and done well. In addition, Roy was the first person to provide the National Society of Black Engineers with scholarships of $ 10,000 in 1978 and $ 15,000 in 1988 among his many endeavors to mentor black youths.

Roy had many passions, when not wheeling and dealing to get his next job, Roy saw himself as a Gentlemen Farmer and Bee Keeper. Every Monday we would hear how he sent the weekend cultivating his gardens and how the bees stung him every once in a while. He would always invite me and my friends to his place to enjoy the great outdoors and to help him with this passion he loved so much. I have to say that they made the absolute best Apple Cider one will ever taste.

Roy also had a great love for Track & Field which I believe started from his days at Brooklyn Technical H.S. (one of the top three high schools in NYC). Every four years, Roy and Jackie would disappear for a few weeks to go see the Track meets at the Olympics.

LeRoy Callender meant a great deal to me and I shall mourn the passing of a truly GREAT mentor and friend.

GERALD

worked in his office,....early 1970s

He was a great supporter of African American students at CCNY.