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| Mike Leding, on right, with Yours Truly, on left, in a church-sponsored musical, ca. 1954 |
I grew up in a neighborhood full of kids. The Mead children
started out their educations at St. John the Evangelist Catholic School.
Most of the kids we knew at school lived within a radius of a few blocks.
We knew them and their families well through church and school
activities. But we also knew other kids who lived in our neighborhood --
Jimmy and Ruth Ann Livingston, the Goble boys (Rob, Louis, Johnathan), Sandy
Carr, the Albert kids, the McCones, Carol Pray, Mo Lynch and so many others. There
was never a shortage of kids for a game of hide-and-go-seek or stick ball on a
Summer evening. Remember, this is about a pre-Television, un-air-conditioned
time. Kids played outside and parents sat on porches to enjoy an evening
breeze.
But one young man was closer
than the others - more like a brother or cousin than just a neighbor.
That was Mike Leding. Not surprisingly, we still stay in touch.
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| The Leding House at 1047 Gillespie St. |
Mike's father had also
tragically passed away when Mike was an infant. Mike was just about a
year younger than me, but we grew up as "buddies." We entered
school at the same time, so we were classmates at St. John's until 7th grade,
at which time my parents chose to put me into the public school system.
We were altar boys together, and in choir together, and in Boy Scouts together,
and in school musicals together -- the list goes on.
My grandmother, Eva Ann Neddo
McLaughlin, lived with us from the time I was about 3 years old when my
grandfather William McLaughlin died. She and Rose Cummings, Mike's grandmother, were very
close friends. At a time when many Roman Catholics attended daily Mass,
Rose and Eva could often be found trekking together down Union Street at 6:45 AM
on their way to 7:00 Mass. They remained close friends, spiritually and
socially, until Rose Cummings passed away in 1952, shortly before
Christmas. Mike was home with his grandmother at the time of her
death. That had to be a major "growing up" experience.
Mike's mother was a charming,
attractive, and very sociable individual. And there is no doubt she was a
very capable lady as well. She kept the Leding household intact while
working full-time for the General Electric Company. For many years, she
served as the Administrative Assistant to Dr. C. Guy Suits, the Director of the
General Electric Research Laboratory. Rosemary Leding was near the top of
the GE food chain.
Because Mike had lost his dad,
I think my father felt an obligation to try in some way to fill the void that
resulted. We included Mike Leding in our vacation plans, for example, and
when the Meads went to Lake George each August, we made sure that Mike was
included as a guest for at least a week. I believe my dad had a very warm
spot in his heart with regard to Michael John Leding.
As we grew older our lives somewhat drifted apart. I followed the public school system through junior high
and high school. Mike remained in the parochial system, eventually
graduating from the highly-regarded Vincentian Institute High School in Albany,
where he was trained by the Brothers of the Holy Cross.
While I moved on to the
University of Rochester, Mike attended the College of the Holy Cross in
Worcester, MA, where he majored in accounting. We'd see each other when
we'd get home for holidays, especially at church, but we had developed
different sets of friends while in high school, so our socializing was fairly
limited during our college years.
After graduating from
Rochester, I had a date with Uncle Sam to pay back my four-year obligation as a
commissioned naval officer. One
day, while I was home from school for a weekend with my parents, I received a phone call
from Mike wanting to discuss the issue of military service. Viet Nam was
heating up, we all faced the universal draft, and he was looking at his
options, one of which was to pursue a Navy commission through the Officer
Candidate School (OCS) program.
I shared with Mike that he'd be
a perfect candidate for the Navy's Supply Corps with his accounting and
business background. As it turned out, Mike applied for and was accepted to Navy OCS. Coincidentally, I was to report aboard my first ship, the USS Hugh Purvis, a destroyer undergoing a shipyard overhaul in Boston, at the same time Mike was to report to OCS in Newport, Rhode Island. My parents drove us to Boston where we stayed overnight with Michael's cousin, Loyola Hogan, who was a nurse serving in a Boston hospital and who lived in a brownstone on Beacon Hill. In one evening we learned that it would be in our best interests and that of the Navy if we were never again together on shore leave. My head throbs just thinking about it.
Mike went on to excel in Navy Supply
School in Athens, GA. And then, he became the Paymaster on the USS
Springfield (CLG-7). He suffered through a 3-year assignment on the
French Riviera. War is Hell!
One very beautiful result of
Mike's assignment in Europe was that when he completed his obligated service as
a supply officer, he flew his mother to Europe, whereupon they had a two week excursion around the continent. I'm sure Mike has a million stories from
that memorable expedition. After his Navy tour was over, Mike returned to
school, earning an MBA from Columbia's Business School.
Mike has lived in Tampa for
many, many years. Most years when I can remember, I call him to wish him
a happy birthday and we get caught up on family news. This year, when
called, Mike mentioned a couple of interesting items. The first was that
Dr. Anthony Fauci, long time Director of the National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases, is a classmate of Mike's from his Holy Cross
years. Small world. The other subject that Mike brought up was his
father, whom he never got to know.
I've wondered about Mike's dad
since I was a little kid. My parents said that he was a wonderful man,
extremely bright, and on a "fast-track" career path at the General
Electric Company. Sadly, he was diagnosed with leukemia and died in
1942. Michael was 18 months old when he lost his father. I learned
during this year's birthday call that Michael had donated some of his dad's
papers, found among his mother's belongings, to the University of Notre Dame
archives. One of the items was the typewritten valedictory address his
father had delivered as Valedictorian of Notre Dame's class of 1933. I
was elated to find out that his dad was so accomplished. But I also
learned that he had graduated with a 96.5 average in electrical
engineering. And, Oh, by the way, played varsity football, earning a position as Left Tackle in his junior year. The 1932 Notre
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| 1932 Notre Dame Varsity Team Michael J. Leding, Left Tackle |
"Leding has another year's
eligibility and should he return to join the lists of those contending- for the
left tackle post next year, stands a good chance of being one of the leaders.
Of course, there will be big Ed Krause, two-year first stringer and
all-American, to meet.
"Mike himself has plenty of
heft, is tall, rangy and powerful. He is six feet, two inches tall, weighs 180
pounds and is 2l years old. He is a graduate of Central high in South Bend
where he played a lot of baseball, a sport he gave up after coming to Notre
Dame. Summers he holds a job as municipal playground
director."
There can be no doubt that my
friend's father was an exceptional and well-rounded individual.
Michael has kindly given me
permission to publish his father's valedictory address in this blog. It
reveals the mind and spirit of a man who was taken from us way too soon.
--
Valedictory Address, Class of 1933, Notre Dame University --
Michael John
Leding
"About 20 years ago each
member of this class received admission into that natural society commonly
called the human family. Great indeed was the courage of the Mother who bore
each one of us. The greatness of her courage was manifested by her willing descent
into the valley of the shadow of death in order that we might have life. The
greatness of her courage and the courage of the father was manifested by their
voluntary acceptance of “the grave obligation to see to the religious and moral
education of their child as well as to its physical and civic training, and
moreover to the provision for its temporal well-being.”
"Thus we were placed, as
regards education, in the first natural and necessary element in the social
environment, the family. In those first days our mothers were, as they are now,
indeed the most beautiful creatures in the world, closely resembling God as they
tenderly nourished, sustained and warmed us, their children. In the
well-ordered and well-disciplined Christian family with instructions from our
parents, instructions exemplified by their clear and constant good example, we
came upon our first conception of right and wrong. We were brought up in a holy
and filial “fear of God the beginning of wisdom.”
"However, we belong also, to
a society not of the mere natural order. Most of us were fortunate enough to
become through baptism members of a supernatural society, the Church, which
supplied us with a further environment, one associated with the family in a
most intimate and harmonious manner. The church, as did our natural Mothers,
generated, nurtured, and educated our souls in the Divine life of grace, with
her Sacraments and her doctrine.
"But man is a social being,
with obligations Beyond those of the family and those of the Church.
Consequently, we had to be trained in the arts and sciences in order that we
might take our proper places in civil society. Thus, when we had attained the
age of six years or so, it was necessary for our parents to give over a portion
of their responsibilities to a social institution, the school. Here the good
nuns and kind teachers looked after our many wants and educated us in subjects
known from experience to be the most beneficial for us.
"From the grade school we
passed to high school. Not all of us continued with a Catholic education; some
of us had to enter city or state schools where the surroundings were not entirely
conducive to our spiritual advancement. However, in the home our parents still
were able to counteract false doctrines and false ideals as they arose and were
thus able to keep us directed towards the Supreme Good, our last end.
"We were ready for college.
Many of us preferred state schools again, but our mothers, ever watchful for
our welfare, ever conscious of their divine mission, in many cases for the last
time used their rightful authority to insist on our enrollment in a Catholic
College. As we now look back, we see as they did, that the place for a Catholic
student is in a Catholic school.
"In college we no longer had
easy access to our mothers with our cares and troubles. We were placed upon our
own responsibility. However, when we entered this University we gained another
Mother, our Alma Mater, not so tender, so warm, so indulgent as our natural
Mothers, but by the very fact that she is more uncompromising, more
disciplinary, she proves that she is just as concerned, just as solicitous, just
as anxious for our welfare. Here we came into the full use of our reason. We no
longer learned merely by rote, simply for the sake of performing a task
required of us. Here our real pursuit of knowledge began. Here we were educated
to fit the mold of a true Christian, patterned by our present pontiff, Pope
Pius XI, since now we have learned “to think, judge, and act constantly and
consistently in accordance with right reason illumined by the supernatural
light of the example and teaching of Christ”. Our intellects were “given force
steadiness, comprehensiveness, we gained versatility and command over our own
powers”. We learned to reach out towards truth, to grasp it and to understand
it.
"Here at school, away from
the anxieties of the world, we have prepared ourselves for life by performing
daily, in the correct manner, the duties, both moral and educational, allotted
to us. We need not worry for the future if during our college days we have at
all times applied ourselves to the best of our ability to the problems that
college life has been presented to us.
"Moral courage has been the
great lesson taught us at Notre Dame. At such a school as this men attain the
virtue of moral fortitude, which points out the pitfalls of excess and defect,
warns against the perils of rashness which thrusts them into danger opposed to
reason, and reveals to them the weakness of cowardice which makes men shun
dangers to which they can and should expose themselves.
"We shall need courage to
uphold the Christian ideals Notre Dame has implanted in us. Notre Dame
conscientiously fulfills the motive of the Church which, as Newman says, “does
not cherish talent, genius, or knowledge, for their own sake, but for the sake
of her children, with a view to their spiritual welfare and religious influence
and usefulness, with the object of training them to fill their respective posts
in life better, and of making them more intelligent, capable, active members of
society.” All Notre Dame asks is that we be true to the ideals she has inculcated
in us - - true to God, Country and Notre Dame.
"And so, Notre Dame has
alloyed and beaten into shape the pure raw metal furnished her.
"In a short while we shall
pass from the status of undergraduates to that of alumni. Four years ago we
were anxious to see this day come, but as the end draws near deep-felt emotion,
swelling within our hearts, makes us wish we could continue our stay. But time
must go on and we must move forward to take our respective places in life.
Although we may never again meet many of our school friends in person, our
pleasant association with them will often come to our minds and we shall live
again in memory happy hours in the classrooms, the joyful sessions in the
dormitory, the elevating services in the Church and at the Grotto.
"So, we come to the end of
our college career - - to the commencement of life. God prepared us for our
parents, our parents prepared us for Notre Dame, Notre Dame has prepared us for
life. May we now by our life prepare ourselves for God.
"As we say farewell to our
Alma Mater let us pray for courage - - courage of the type shown by our
Mothers, courage of the type taught by Notre Dame, or simply – – courage of the
type that will enable us to live as true Notre Dame men."
What a magnificent and
inspiring work this is! And it's made even more remarkable by virtue of
the fact that it was written by a man in his early twenties. Of course,
with 20/20 hindsight, we realize that less than 10 years hence, many of the men
in that audience would be called to defend their country. Some would
never return. They would have to call upon every ounce of the courage
that Michael John Leding, their Valedictorian, had described on that joyful day
of their graduation.
And I might add that the acorn
does not fall far from the tree. Mike Jr., my friend, has many of the
same gifts that were evident in his father. He has always been a hard
worker. When we were young, Michael had a newspaper business selling
papers from a table set up in front of St. John the Evangelist church on Sunday
mornings. He was out in the weather, winter or summer, in rain, sleet, or
snow, selling those papers.
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| Mike Leding -- "Voice of the Spartans" |
His life, like that evidenced
in his father, has been marked by service to others. He has for many
years been the voice of the University of Tampa Spartans, a
commitment that few would take on. The
UT Website informs us that Michael Leding was inducted into the UT Hall of Fame
in 2016, describing him this way, “Mike Leding has been a Spartan supporter
and directly affiliated with Spartan Athletics since 1984. The long-time donor
has been the primary public address announcer for men's basketball since 1987
and for the women's program since 2003, and has also been the voice of the
Spartans at baseball, soccer and softball games. He has made financial
contributions to both basketball teams and the athletic department since 1984.
He was the men's basketball radio color broadcaster during the early seasons of
the program's rebirth. His support has also manifested itself in letters to the
editor in the local media when he thought their coverage of the success of
Spartan athletics was lacking. In the mid-80's, Mike was the University's Vice
President of Business and Finance, followed by being its Vice President of
Institutional Advancement while also being an adjunct professor in the College
of Business for a period of years. He has never apologized for being a
"homer" and irreverent on occasion, when the circumstances merited
it, to fire up the Spartans while being a p.a. announcer.”
Mike also served his Holy Cross class for many years as their class correspondent, publishing a class newsletter to keep his classmates informed. Knowing Mike, perhaps a better description would be “informed and entertained.” He has the gift.
Mike Leding, I feel privileged to have grown up with you and
to have known you all these years. God
bless you and your family, and may we and our friendship endure for many more years.
