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Milton A. Lendl

1934 - 02

BORN

1934

DIED

02

FUNERAL HOME

Bash-Nied-Jobe Funeral Home - Delmont

152 Abbe Place

Delmont, Pennsylvania

Milton Lendl Obituary

Milton Alois Lendl, of Delmont, beloved by his family and friends, died Thursday, Sept. 1, 2011, after a valiant battle with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells in the bone marrow. Milt was a dignified figure and role model in both the Delmont, Pa., and Galway, N.Y., communities. He was a hard working, honest, caring and sincere family-oriented person. Joyfully, Milton Alois Lendl was born Feb. 12, 1934, in New York City, to Anna Marie (Stickrad) and William F. Lendl. Although born during the Depression, he always felt lucky. He was the oldest child of immigrants, who met during an English language class. The family bought a farm in upstate New York and, although times were tough, they could eat from their bountiful garden. Farm living taught Milt that you can have a full life without the benefit of a great many material things. He stayed within 20 miles of that farm during his youth. Shopping was done either through a catalog or in the general store which was about a mile away. Milt would take eggs to the store and trade them for staple goods. In the early days, they had more time than money and were forced to build things from the materials available around the farm. The barns were made of lumber cut right from their woods and indoor plumbing was not added until many years later. Milt worked side-by-side with his father - milking cows, tilling soil and repairing machinery. Early in life, Milton took an interest in all things mechanical. He built several vehicles which he named "doodlebugs." These doodlebugs were pieced together out of tractor, car and truck components and ran well. These vehicles did an amazing amount of work and no one could catch them on the highway because they were capable of speeds up to 100 MPH. The problem with doodlebugs was stopping because they only had front handbrakes. Milt attended grammar school in a one room school house and went on to be one of 11 in his graduating class of Galway High School Class of 1952. He was valedictorian of his class and played all varsity sports. He set the cornerstone of what is the current Galway High School. Milt was the only one from his class to attend college where he won a small scholarship to help pay his fees and books. He attended Cornell University, a land grant college that required two years of ROTC. While in college, he joined the Newman Club and attended many social functions. While at a Newman dance, he was lucky enough to meet a pretty co-ed named Jeanette "Jan" Kittel and arranged a homecoming date with her. He courted her and they were married in Brooklyn, N.Y., in April 1956. Milton graduated from Cornell with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956 as a second lieutenant with the MOS of artillery officer in the Army. After graduation, the young couple traipsed off to El Paso, Texas, for their honeymoon. Jan would teach school and Milt would serve as maintenance officer for the Air Defense Nike Missile Battery at Fort Bliss, Texas. After completing his military service, Milt accepted a position with a company called GLF, which eventually became Agway. His training assignment was to go to Gouverneur, N.Y., and become a PDS, which in today's terminology was a truck driver. He was hard working and went to training classes which resulted in a promotion to assistant plant manager in Batavia, N.Y., then to manager in Ithaca, N.Y. Milt's talents fit right in and he was able to manage during the day and do truck engine repairs at night and maintenance on the weekends. His goal was to paint each truck every other year and in between he was able to paint the entire plant, including bulk tanks and the warehouse. Milt was promoted to district manager and the family moved to Delmont. The volume of plants quadrupled and he became regional manager. He qualified for early retirement and retired in 1992 after a 34-year career with Agway. Mr. Lendl gave generously to his community. He was a member of the Lions Club for almost 45 years with 25 years of perfect attendance and held offices of secretary, first vice president, president, director and membership chairman. He chaired the annual Delmont Youth Talent Contest for many years. Milt also chaired Christmas in Salem Crossroads for 35 years and could be seen delivering luminaries, lighting bonfires, ordering candles and coordinating the smooth operation of this event. He was active in the Delmont Recycling Program by collecting materials at the drop center and using his truck to deliver collected materials to recycle points. He had been involved in the community garden by plowing the soil in past years and he was instrumental in building the theater stage at Shields Farm. Milt was the recipient of the Lions Club Membership Key in 1992, the Melvin Jones Fellowship Award in 1994, the highest award given in the Lions Club, and Lion of the Year in 2001. After he retired, Milt split his time between the family farm in Galway, N.Y., and his house in Delmont. He loved riding tractors and harvesting hay on the farm, which he continued to do after retirement. Milt had a fondness for dining out and could be seen at all the local restaurants around Delmont, including McDonald's, Wagon Wheel, Joe's, and Route 66 Grille. Mr. Lendl will be remembered as the ultimate handyman which developed from his years working on the farm. He used his knowledge to help friends and neighbors with a wide range of projects. He never turned anyone away in need, especially the neighborhood children who looked to him for bicycle and motorbike repairs. Milt was a member of St. John de la Salle Roman Catholic Church, in Delmont. He is survived by his beloved wife, Jeanette Marianne (Kittel) Lendl; sister, Mildred "Millie" Stina and brother-in-law, Arthur "Art" Stina, of Boca Raton, Fla.; daughter, Susan "Sue" Freeman and son-in-law, Thomas D. Freeman Jr., of Lafayette, La.; son, William "Bill" Lendl and daughter-in-law, Rene Angle Lendl, of West Chester, Ohio; daughter, Lisa Lendl-Lander and son-in-law, John "Rick" Lander, of Pittsburgh; four grandsons, Cpl. Thomas Freeman III, of Twentynine Palms, Calif., Bill Freeman, of Riverside, Calif., Dave Lendl, of West Chester, Ohio, and Patrick Freeman, of Austin, Texas; granddaughter, Anna Marie Lendl, of Columbus, Ohio; and numerous nieces and nephews. Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at the BASH-NIED FUNERAL HOME, 152 Abbe Place, Delmont. To celebrate his life, a Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Tuesday in St. John de la Salle Roman Catholic Church, Delmont. Delmont Lions Club will conduct a memorial service at 6:30 p.m. Monday followed by a wake service at 7 p.m. in the funeral home. Military honors will be accorded by Greensburg VFW Post 33. Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to Leader Dogs for the Blind, 1039 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, MI 48307-3115.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Tribune Review on Sep. 3, 2011.

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Funeral services provided by:

Bash-Nied-Jobe Funeral Home - Delmont

152 Abbe Place, Delmont, PA 15626

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