Leonard Salsbury

Leonard William Salsbury lived a life full of ups and downs. Through it all he learned about love, about family, about war, and about business. Leonard enjoyed good times thats for sure, and when things were tough he always found a way to move through them and keep going. He knew success and he knew failure. The year 1928 was a good year, it was part of the time of the Roaring Twenties. Things were good in America. You could buy a gallon of gas for 20 cents and a loaf of bread for 10 cents. This was the year, 1928, that Leonard Salsburys life began. It was on December 13, in the small rural Michigan town of Ravenna, 18 miles east of Muskegon. Leonard was born to William Salsbury and Lillian Beebe Salsbury. The family lived in Muskegon when Leonard was growing up and there they attended Wood Ave. Methodist Church. Unfortunately, his father died when Leonard was just a boy and his mother had to provide for the familynot only Leonard, but his sisters, Ardis, Doris, and Inez. And she did it. She worked as a housekeeper for families in North Muskegon. Like others of his time, Leonard finished ninth grade and felt ready for bigger things. He wanted to join the Navy and he did so, but he had to lie about his age of course. Well, the Navy caught on and kicked him out. Leonard was persistent, though, and kept after them and when he was 17 years old the Navy said OK. Leonard served during WWII, from 1944 to 1946. He was a coxswain on a landing craft, meaning he was in charge of navigation and steering, the guy who drove the boat in other words. When Leonard got out of the Navy he came back home to Muskegon. Not long after, his sister, Doris, introduced him to a lovely young gal by the name of Lorraine Pearo. Leonard and Lorraine dated and quickly discovered they were terribly fond of each other. They soon fell in love and were married. They started their family with son William, born in 1950. Then in 1953 they had their first daughter, Debra, and in 1960 they rounded out the family with their second daughter, Cheryl. To support his family Leonard worked as a truck driver and was a member of the Teamsters Union. The Teamsters Union at that time was big and powerful across the country. Leonard served as the secretary of the local branch in Muskegon and attended union meetings in Chicago. Everyone remembers the name Jimmy Hoffa. Well, on one of his trips to union meetings in Chicago Leonard had the opportunity to meet Jimmy Hoffa. Leonard was proud to be part of the Teamsters Union and to have met Mr. Hoffa. In Muskegon Leonard worked for Continental Motors, which, after the war, was one of Muskegons largest employers, making tank and truck engines for the military. Later, Leonard worked for ATL Trucking, one of the largest and most trusted trucking companies in the nation. At one time Leonard had a trucking company of his own but when his partner in the business died unexpectedly the company failed. In the mid 60s Leonard and Lorraines marriage ended. As time went on, Leonard met a gal by the name of Shirley Thompson. She was a single mom with five children. Leonard and Shirley married and Leonard adopted Shirleys youngest daughter whose name was Amy. Later, Leonard and Shirley had a daughter of their own and they named her Stacey. They settled in Coldwater, Michigan where they had a beautiful home with a pool in the back yard and Leonard had a big car; he always enjoyed driving big cars. Eventually they sold the home and bought a historic mansion in downtown Coldwater which Leonard and Shirley turned into a B & B. They enjoyed doing this together and Leonard was proud of their accomplishment. Shirley managed the business part of the Bed and Breakfast while Leonard continued truck driving. Running the B became more work than pleasure for Shirley as the years went on and the same became true for Leonard being on the road driving truck all the time. So Leonard retired and they sold the B and moved to Whitehall, Michigan to be close to family that Shirley had there. After they settled in there, Shirley started a small ceramics business which kept her busy and which she truly enjoyed. Leonard enjoyed it, too, as the two of them together traveled to art fairs and flea markets to sell the lovely ceramic art pieces Shirley produced. Sadly, this ended in the late 90s when Shirley passed away. By that time Leonard and Shirley had enjoyed 25 years of marriage. Eventually Leonard moved to Norton Shores where he had a very short and unlucky marriage. Regrettably, this left him with financial challenges so he got a job driving busses for the Muskegon Area Transit System and worked until he was 76 years old. When he finally retired, for the second time you might say, he became what some might think of as a recluse. Fortunately, he had good neighbors who kept an eye on him. Leonard wasnt one to seek out his family. The way he saw it was that if they wanted to see him they could call. He did enjoy reading, especially history, and working crossword puzzles and thats how he spent most of his time at this point in his life. Eventually the years and all the ups and downs of his life took their toll on Leonard and his health began to fail. After spending much of his last year in nursing homes and hospitals Leonard passed away on Tuesday, March 22, 2011. Leonards family includes his son, William Salsbury of Grand Haven; daughters, Debra (Brian) Willbrandt of Decatur, Cheryl (Randy) Borns of Spring Lake, Stacie Salsbury; 6 grandchildren, 5 great grandchildren; sister, Doris (Dick) Gulff of Ludington; former wife, Lorraine Pearo. He was preceded in death by his 2nd wife, Shirley; sisters, Ardis & Inez. SERVICE Friday, March 25, 2011, 11:00 AM at the Clock Chapel - Muskegon. Interment at Oakhurst Cemetery. Please visit www.clockfuneralhome.com to leave a memory or sign the online guest book. Clock Life Story- Muskegon