Byron E. LaDuke

Byron E. LaDuke, 84, Green Bay, died Wednesday, August 20, 2014. He was born July 18, 1930, in Green Bay to Lowell and Pearl (Trudeau) LaDuke. Byron was a graduate of Green Bay West High School, Class of 1948. He proudly served in the U.S. Navy. Byron was employed by the State of Wisconsin Apprenticeship Bureau as a District Representative. On September 20, 1952, he married Catherine "Kate" Phillips at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Green Bay. She preceded him in death on July 1, 2002.Byron is survived by three daughters, Lonni and Steve Wery, Green Bay; Shelly and Don Bierhals, Pulaski; Brenda Aerts, Green Bay; five grandchildren, Blake (Andrea) Wery, Shawn Bierhals, Matthew Bierhals, Breanna Bierhals, Riley Aerts; and five great-grandchildren, Dominic, Jocelyn, Camara, Zander, and Kevin. He was preceded in death by his wife, Kate; a grandson, Brett Wery; a brother, Lowell LaDuke; and his parents. Friends may call at Blaney Funeral Home, 1521 Shawano Ave., from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday. To send online condolences, please go to www.BlaneyFuneralHome.com.

'Waldo' John D. Lane

I came across your website while searching for information about VP-21. It is a great website!. My brother ADR2 John D. Lane died 18 May 1979 at Lajes, Azores while TAD with VP-93 out of Selfridge AFB, MI.He was a TAR and had made Chief. I remember as a young boy looking at the pictures John had taken of the P2V-5F's that VP-21 had when he first got to the squadron in 1958. He was a plane captain and flew on LH-9 on several deployments.

Sincerely,

Rodney Lane

LCDR Charles S. Lewis, Ret.

This is to let you know that he passed away Sept. 22, 2004, at Tucson, Arizona. He was 87.

Charles Lewis served in VPB-111 during WWII in England and Africa in 42/43 (exact dates unknown). After that time he was recommended for Warrant and sent stateside. Charles led a very full life, a large part of which was the U. S. Navy. He enlisted in 1937 and retired in 1960. He started at Pearl, scouted for submarines off the coast of Florida, England, Africa, helped set up communications between small airfields in Iowa during the intense training of pilots during WWII. Later he served on the USS Des Moines, USS Yorktown as flagship staff. The skills he gained in the Navy led him to a second career in the aerospace industry in So. California until 1980.

Be Well and may God grant you the desires of your heart.

His loving daughter, Linda Lewis Livingstone.

Anthony Joseph Lanzarotta

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio on Feb. 16, 1936

Departed on Sep. 18, 2002 and resided in Virginia Beach, VA.

Virginia Beach newspaper obituary

Virginia Beach - Anthony Joseph Lanzarotta, 66, died on September 18, 2002. He was a native of Cincinnati, OH. He was retired from the United States Navy as an E-6, ADR1, and also from Civil Service as a Production Control Assistant. He served in the Korean Conflict and also the Vietnam War. He was a member of Holy Spirit Catholic Church. He was also a member of the V.F.W., the Fleet Reserve Association and the Disabled American Veteran's.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Liborio and Sarah Lanzarotta a son Charles Edward Lanzarotta and two brothers, Andrew Lanzarotta and Lee Lanzarotta.

He is survived by his loving wife of 46 years, Shirley A. Lanzarotta of VA. Beach; son, Richard Lanzarotta and his wife, Cheryl, of Chesapeake; daughter, Kathryn Beningo and her husband, David, of VA. Beach; son, Anthony Lanzarotta, II, and his wife, Karen of VA. Beach. He is also survived by six grandchildren: Richard Allen Lanzarotta, II, and his wife, Danielle, of North Carolina, Jennifer Marie Beningo of VA. Beach, David George Beningo of VA. Beach, Anthony Lanzarotta, III, of VA. Beach, Megan Marie Lanzarotta of Chesapeake and Kristina Leigh Lanzarotta of VA. Beach.

A wake service will be held on Friday at 6:30 with visitation to follow until 8:30 PM. A Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated by Father Thomas Ianucci on Saturday at 2:00 PM at Holy Spirit Catholic Church. Interment will follow at Woodlawn Memorial Gardens. Altmeyer Funeral Home, Virginia Beach chapel, is handling arrangements. Family and friends are invited to the residence following services.


Ron, Bootcamp, 1951	Ron, Gibraltar, HC-2, 9/54	J.Rotunda, Ron, 6/54

Ronald Lenhoff, AT2, grew up in Newport, KY, joined the Navy in 1951 and went to bootcamp at Great Lakes NTC. He went to Aviation Prep school at NATC Jacksonville, FL, then on to Electronics school at NATC Memphis and then to Radar and ECM schools at NATC Norfolk, VA.

Ron was assigned to VP-21 at Patuxent River, MD in May of 1952, where he was then immediately assigned to Crew 1 for orientation on the Martin P4M1 as 1st. Radioman, then on to Crew 2 as 1st. Radioman. Later, Ron was assigned to the new Lockheed P2V-6 Crew 2 as 1st. Radioman.

Primary mission in the P4M1 was aerial mining, and the ASW mission in the P2V-6. Ron did two Med Cruises, (1953 &1954) stationed on Malta, where he met his future wife, 'Lyn', who was a WREN in the British Navy in 1954.

Following discharge in 1955, Ron went to work for Muzak as a technician, then to a recording studio as a sound engineer. Ron owned his own recording studio for eight years and then went to work at King Records as Chief Engineer and Quality Control Engineer. Here Ron was the personal mixing engineer for James Brown for another eight years, and Quality Control Engineer for the pressing plant (vinyl records). Ron traveled extensively through the USA, Africa, and Europe with Mr. Brown in that capacity (Ron's name may be recognized as co-writer on a number of James Brown Records). Ron then worked for Dover Elevator as a mechanic, and retired there in 1992.

Ron became Secretary of the VP-21/ VPB-111 Veterans Association in 1995. Ron is also a member of the ANA, and the Navy League. Ron and his wife Lyn have two sons, Mark and Bruce, six grandsons and 1 granddaughter. END

Ron Lenhoff died 11-25-2006. Visitation will be at Linnemann Funeral Home Thur. eve 11-30-2006, from 6 - 8 pm.,

30 Commonwealth Ave,

Erlanger KY.

Funeral will be at St. Barbara Catholic Ch., Friday morning

My father asked that I send this out upon his death. It was prepared by him a few months ago when he realized his time would be limited. .

Dear Friends and shipmates;

As you read this,my liberty time on earth has been cancelled and I have been called to the C.O.s office in the sky for replay of my time on earth.

It was a good time with a lot of friends and shipmates.

To my shipmates in the Association, THANK YOU for being my friend.I enjoyed your friendship.

To my CREW,Fred Norm Bill and Teo,a special thank you for making my stay on earth a memorable one.Thank you for being there.

To my shipmates from the 52' to 55' era ,thank you for being a part of my life!It was a great time,with lots of good memories.I hope I can take them with me.

To my friends in T.B.P.A.,Thank you for being my friend. Your friendship meant a lot to me.

To my old schoolmates,we had a good run,with lots of memories!

I LEAVE YOU ALL WITH MY LOVE AND RESPECT. REMEMBER ME IN YOUR PRAYERS.

RON

The Jane Sparrow family, England

My name is Jane and I am a cousin of the Lenhoff family in England. We were

all saddened over here to hear of Ron's death. We will all have fond,

special memories of him. He loved to visit England and I remember laughing

with him on numerous occasions. One particular occasion was when the

American elections were on and he said of Hilary Clinton "If that woman gets

into the Whitehouse, I'm moving to England!" I also remember the time he and

Evelyn went to Tenerife in the Canaries with us on one of their visits. He

went to the top of Mount Teide with me on the cable car and I have a

wonderful photo of him there, also the trip to Cadbury World which he

adored. He welcomed me into his home with such warmth and generosity when I

visited.

We will all miss him.

Love and condolences to his family

Jane and the Sparrow family. 11-26-2006

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Recording legend dead at 75

Ron Lenhoff helped define "Cincinnati sound"

By Rick Bird

Post staff reporter

In the old black and white pictures of Ron Lenhoff from the 1960s, he looks like the quintessential engineer - button-down white shirt and geeky glasses, sitting at a control panel.

But those pictures are deceiving. Lenhoff was not creating rocket science, but rock 'n' roll.

He helped define the "Cincinnati sound" for James Brown's seminal hits mostly recorded at King Records, where Lenhoff was Brown's personal recording engineer from 1964 to 1972.

Lenhoff, of Independence, Ky., died Sunday morning at his home after a battle with stomach cancer. He was 75.

His name can be found in the credits of almost every James Brown record from the '60s, including all of his hits: "Cold Sweat," "Sex Machine," "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag."

"He was James Brown's favorite engineer at King. When I was 17, I wanted to know why," remembers Bootsy Collins, the Cincinnati funk legend and Rock Hall of Fame inductee who joined Brown's band as the hot-shot teenaged bassist in 1969.

"What I saw was Ron's attention to detail. Where the mike was placed, where you had a musician and where you should stand, your section, your spot, and every amp had to be a certain volume," Collins said. "The reason being we recorded all the instruments live, so it was very important where you stood in conjunction with your fellow band member."

Lenhoff, born in Elsmere, Ky., and raised in Newport, went into the Navy after graduation in 1949 from Newport Catholic High.

"He was a radio and electronics expert on the P2V bomber," said a son, Mark Lenhoff, of Burlington.

In the 1950s, Ron Lenhoff worked at, then bought, the Fidelity studio, where he cut his recording teeth, his son said.

In 1964, he was hired by King Records as its chief engineer. At the time, the studio's star was Brown, but his relationship with King owner Syd Nathan was often a contentious one. Lenhoff smoothed things out and helped the "Godfather of Soul" find his sound.

Collins remembers the recording environment Lenhoff created.

"He was always on time, and wanted you to be, too. He wanted everything perfect. James really liked that in him, but then sometimes James did not want things so perfect and Ron knew when to compromise to make the Godfather feel in control. Musicians can be strange cats," Collins said.

Mark Lenhoff remembers the Saturday night in 1968 when the phone rang at their home.

"It's James Brown. He was doing a concert in Nashville, and he wants to record tonight. My dad said, 'Well, we have to drive,' and my mom said, 'Take Mark, he'll help you stay awake.'"

By the time they arrived, it was 1 a.m.

"At two, the session started and they did 'Sex Machine.' I was 13-years-old," Mark Lenhoff said. "I had no idea what was going on. I know it took several hours to record it, but they ended up using the first take."

The tune would define Brown's new style of aggressive funk music, the recording to this day a rugged R&B classic. Lenhoff used his trick of slightly speeding up the final mix to give it an even more in-your-face feel.

Brown insisted that Lenhoff be listed as a composer of the song, so for years he got royalty checks from it, Mark Lenhoff said.

Ron Lenhoff and Brown had a public reunion in June of 1997 when Brown wanted a tour of the old King Records building on Brewster Avenue in Evanston. Brown had toyed with the idea of relaunching the studio to support new artists, and wanted to see his old digs.

The encounter set the two men to reminiscing. Lenhoff told The Post that day: "James was the only man I knew who could go into a studio with one line to a song and come out with a hit record. We recorded 'Cold Sweat' in one take, in mono, and it went directly to vinyl.

Lenhoff lamented the closing of King when the studio was sold.

"It was the only studio that had acoustics all its own," he said.

King Records folded in the early '70s as Brown moved on to a new label. Mark Lenhoff says his dad had offers to engineer in other cities, but decided to stay in Northern Kentucky with a "sensible job" to make sure his family was stable. So for the next 20 years, he was an elevator engineer.

But even after the King glory days, Ron Lenhoff would still get calls from Brown, Mark Lenhoff said.

"James called some three times in the '70s and wanted my dad to come on the road with him as his sound man. He went twice to Africa and Europe once on tours."

Collins remembers Lenhoff as an engineer who knew how to take care of a bunch of young crazy funk players creating cutting edge music.

"He knew his equipment and what it was capable of doing, and sometimes he would push it to the limits. That's what I really liked about him. He was not scared of blowing things up, like a speaker or two, to make you happy or feel good about what we were doing. Maybe he just did it because we were kids. But he sure knew how to balance his work with the artists and that is a gig in itself."

Collins said those who never knew Lenhoff should listen to "Sex Machine." "The sound of that record will never die or be duplicated."

AM1, 1952 (Bill was 22 yrs. of age here)

Commissioning, 1955

Carrier Qualified, 1956

Commander, 1969

Bill Locke was born and raised in Holyoke, MA. He attended the public schools there and joined the Navy following graduation from Holyoke High in 1948. Following boot camp at Great Lakes, IL, and after attending the Airman Primary and Aviation Structural Mechanic schools at NAS Memphis, TN,

Bill reported to VF-72 at NAS Quonset Point, RI as an AMAA. During his five years in the squadron, Bill made several deployments including an eight month tour to WestPac during the Korean War. In 1954, as an AM1, Bill transferred to FASRON 2, also at Quonset Point.

In 1955 Bill was selected to attend OCS under the Holloway Plan, the Navy's first "Seaman to Admiral" program. Following completion of the sixteen week course, and commissioning as an ensign, USN, Bill reported to NAS Pensacola, FL for flight training. In 1957 he received his wings at NAS Hutchinson, KS and reported to his first tour of duty in VP-21 at NAS Brunswick, ME. After rotating through several crews as a navigator, and serving as copilot on CAC 10 under Al Petrich, on CAC 7 under C.E. "Bill" Mackey, and on CAC 1 under Herb Ainsworth, he was designated as PPC of CAC 8, the position he held until he was transferred to VT-29 at NAS Corpus Christi, TX in 1961. During his tour in VP-21, Bill made deployments to Iceland, Malta, Sicily, and Newfoundland.

Bill spent three years in VT-29 as an in-flight navigation instructor flying C-47, C-117, and T-29 navigation trainers before reporting back to VP-21 for a second tour in 1965. He was again assigned as PPC of CAC 8 (again, the best crew in the squadron) and completed another deployment to Iceland. During this deployment, Bill received a direct order from the XO, Mike Johnson, not to make any more low passes around Keflavik as they were disturbing the Air Force. With two tours and six years in VP-21, Bill believes that he's flown with more Blackjacks than has anyone else. Bill has been the chairman of the board of the VPB-111/VP-21 Veterans Association since 1999.

In 1967 Bill reported to NSA Danang, Vietnam where he spent the next year flying the unit's only aircraft - first a C-47 and then a C-117. During the one year in-country tour, Bill flew over 900 hours and made over 500 in-country landings.

Following subsequent tours at NAS Brunswick, COMICEDEFOR, Iceland, and CINCLANTFLT, Norfolk, Bill reported to his final tour at NAS Brunswick. He retired as a commander in 1982 after 34 years of active duty. Following retirement, Bill went to work for Bath Iron Works as a supervisor in the Logistics department. As of 3/25/2003, he's still there.

Bill was married for 44 years to the former Joan Drapeau. Joan passed away in 2000. They had five lovely daughters and four wonderful grandchildren. On 3 April 2003, Bill married Donna Lawson, a resident of Bailey Island, ME. It's not often that anyone gets this lucky twice in a lifetime.

Carmelo (Joe, Laz & Carl) Lazzaro

1954 Front L-R Johnny Ferrell ALAN, Edwin Stirnweis AT2, Carl (Joe) Lazzaro AD2, Adolphus Russell AL1. Rear L-R J.R.Hall LTJG, Donald K. Smith LTJG (PPC) Lee Ramsey LTJG.

1954 Plane Captain,

HC-11

2002 Arlene and Carl

I was born and raised in Gary, Indiana, joined the Navy on April 9, 1951 and was discharged on April 6, 1955. Came into VP-21 in January 1952 from AD school in Memphis, TN. Worked in a check crew for a couple of months and there soon became a shortage of flight crew members. I was assigned to HC-6, P4M-1's under George (Red) Ruch as Plane Captain. The P4M's became old and were sent to major overhaul. We received P2V-6's as replacements and I then became a 2nd mechanic under Bob Goodie as Plane Captain on HC-5. In the early spring of 1954 the squadron received three additional planes and I then became Plane Captain of HC-11 until my discharge in April 1955. I had a wonderful experience during my tour of duty, and made two tours of duty to Malta in 1953 and 1954.

My first tour of Malta was at Luqa Air Field in 1953 as a crew member of HC 5, with Herb Edelman as PPC and Bob Goodie as Plane Captain. We stayed in a three story building next to the British barracks. We ate in the British mess hall, eating mutton, lamb, stewed tomatoes, and potatoes and drank their tea, with and without milk. We made frequent trips to Naples, Italy to pick up and deliver mail and during our short stay, spent some time in Naples gouging ourselves on Italian Foods. We often went to Wheelus Air Force Base in Tripoli for pilots to practice touch and go landings and then stop for a few hours to buy necessary items from the PX including booze.

My fondest memories are the familiarization flights, (sight seeing trips) we made visiting many countries around the Mediterranean, British Isles and into Western Europe. Also the July 4th fireworks display that was tossed at the British barracks while they were sleeping.

We were on an Operation in 1953 that placed us on the Island of Crete, slept in tents and ate on an LST that was beached on shore and shared this remote airfield with VP 11. One day one of our planes blew out a tire on landing and the plane was left on the runway because there were no spare tires available to get the plane off the runway. In the mean time, a VP11 plane was coming in with one engine out, could not land on the main runway and attempted a landing on the auxiliary runway, ran out of runway and ditched the plane in water about 50 yards from shore. The plan sank in shallow water, and the water level was midway across the fuselage. A rescue crew from the LST came to retrieve the waiting aviators. There were no serious injuries and our squadron was chewed our royally for not removing the ailing plane that was blocking the main runway.

My parents came to the United States from Bivona, Sicily and when I found out I was going to Malta, I took leave in 1953 to visit relatives in Sicily. One of my Aunts tried her best to get me to marry one of her daughters. Because of that incident, I stayed away from visiting Sicily in 1954 and married a home town girl in 1959.

In 1954, we were back in Malta at Halfar Air Field. I was plane captain of HC 11, with DK Smith as PPC. That year we stayed in Quonset huts. We were in an air, sea rescue training seminar that was hosted by the British. Our training was to swim to various life rafts that were placed in the water. Once you were in the life raft, a British Helicopter made by Sikorski, came to our rescue and hoisted us out of the raft. After the exercise, our whole crew including officers went to one of our Quonset huts to relax sipping a few beers.

After about four months there the squadron was transferred to Port Lyautey, in French Morroco for the balance of our tour. I believe the British were making major repairs to the main runway at Halfar. At Port Lyautey, our squadron had a tag football team that won the base football tournament. While at Port Lyautey, our crew was involved in an air - sea rescue mission of an American airliner that went down near the Azores Islands. We had engine problems one day during the search and landed at Lajes Field in the Azores. We needed a new cylinder and were stranded in the Azores for a week while waiting for the part that was coming in from the States.

After my discharge I attended USF&G's School of Insurance. I worked for various Independent Insurance Agencies and Insurance Companies as a sales representative. I retired from managing the Shipshewana Insurance Agency in Shipshewana, Indiana.

In 1959, I married Arlene a hometown girl and we produced four daughters, Laura, Karen, Janice and Brenda. The girls have produced nine grandchildren for us and have only one daughter living locally, along with four grandchildren

Occupation changes moved me back and forth across northern Indiana and in 1972 we moved to the small town of Shipshewana, Indiana, with a population of 419 people, was quite a change of scenery. Moving into an Amish community was quite a contrast from big city environment. I became involved in many out side activities and was an Emergency Medical Technician for seven years.

Our little town of 525 people has grown in a huge tourist attraction. We have a large Flea Market that brings in from 20,000 to 30,000 tourists from May through October and supports four motels.

John W. Leighton

Leighton, John W. age 91 of Richfield, died on December 20, 2013, He was born in Minneapolis on June 24, 1922. John graduated from DeLaSalle High School and attended the University of St. Thomas. He was married to Pauline (Ruth Sanquist) for 65 years, John was a District Manager at the Star Tribune before being promoted to Advertising Executive, where he worked until his retirement. He served his country as a Navy Lieutenant in WWII, flying several missions in the Philippines. A deeply spiritual man, John was active in St Peter's Church for many years. He was also involved in his community, volunteering to deliver Meals on Wheels, was a member of the VFW, and contributed regularly to charitable organizations. His passions included his family, playing golf, watching basketball, the Vikings, the Gophers, and the Twins as well as playing softball and bowling. John is survived by his wife, Pauline; four daughters, Barbara (Greg) Tillotson, of Manhattan Beach, CA, Sam (Harvey) Fleitman, of Richfield, Margaret Leighton of Montrose and Kathleen (Kevin) Collison of Prairie Village, KS; seven grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. Mass of Christian Burial, at St Peter Catholic Church. Interment: St Mary's Cemetery.

Sam Leonetti, Sr., 10/23/2023 - 3/25/2015

Leonetti, Sam, 91, of Egg Harbor City, NJ died at 3:00 PM on Wednesday, March 25, 2015 at Atlanticare in Pomona. He was born on October 23, 1923 in Sherman, IL to Tony and Nastasia Michalone Leonetti. He married Susan Deltrone on May 27, 1950. Sam was a 20 year Navy man (1940-1960) serving in Squadron in a PB4Y Liberator in the European and Pacific Theatres during World War II. He was also a retired Police Captain at the NAFEC Tech Center retiring from there in 1980.

His wife, Susan preceded him in death on Saturday, May 13, 2000. Also preceding him death were five brothers, Frank, Henry, Adolph, Amato Gazza, and Tony Leonetti; three sisters, Lena Polistina, Rose Harvey, and Mary Leonetti.

He is survived by his son, Sam Leonetti, Jr. and numerous nieces and nephews. Special thanks to the gals at Seacrest Village Nursing Home (Becky, Prissy, Kim and Lisa) in Mystic Island for making his life pleasant for the last year of his life

Ronald J. Levesque

Ronald J. Levesque, 51, of Main Street, died Friday at H.D. Goodall Hospital from injuries sustained in a pedestrian-auto accident.

He was born in Sanford of February 25, 1948, a son of Alfred J. and Geraldine E. Bodwell Levesque, and attended Sanford schools and Sanford High School, where he excelled in wrestling and was a state and New England champion in the lightweight division in 1964 and 1965.

Mr. Levesque had worked for Mel Brackett Carpentry and Ron Allaire Construction. After 18 years as a pipefitter at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, he retired last July due to a work related injury.

He served in the Navy during the Vietnam War.

He was a member of the Lafayette Social Club, the American Legion and the Wolves Club.

Mr. Levesque enjoyed riding his bicycle, fishing, hunting and camping. His family said he enjoyed attending school activities and sporting events involving his daughter, nieces and nephews.

Survivors include his daughter, Veronica of Greensboro, NC; two brothers, Robert of Sabattus and Richard of Sanford; five sisters, Joanne Gray, Linda France, Shirley Demers and Jacqueline Demers, all of Sanford, and Patricia Morin of Phoenix, AZ; and several nieces and nephews.