DOB/DOD: June 24, 1921 (Bronx, NY) – April 8, 1987 (Arlington, VA); 65 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married Belle B. Gottlieb (1925-2008) on November 10, 1946 in Chicago, Illinois
CHILDREN: One daughter, Merle L. Metelits Shannon (1950-). One son, Joel B. (1951-).
LOCAL ADDRESS: 46 Putnam Avenue and 44 Stonecrop Road
ENLISTMENT: October 31, 1942
DISCHARGE: February 16, 1946
SERVICE NUMBER: O-17315
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 1183; Reconnaissance and Survey Officer
UNIT: Battery A, 22nd Marine (Rein), 1st Provisional Marine Brigade
FAMILY: Born to Jacob “Jack” (1887-1971) and Fannie Maisel Metelits (1887-1966). One brother, Bernard D. (1911-2011). One sister, Madeline P. Metelits Wollkind (1915-2001).
Norwalk High School Class of 1938
From The Norwalk Hour April 15, 1987
Leonard I. Metelits, principal of Burr Farms School in Westport from the day it opened in 1957 until the day it closed in 1979, was buried with military honors last week at Arlington National Cemetery. He was 65 when he died on April 8 in Arlington Hospital after three weeks in a coma following a seizure. Although born in New York City, the son of the late Jack and Fannie Maisel Metelits, he was raised in Norwalk from infancy, graduating from Norwalk High School with the Class of 1938 and taking a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics four years later from the University of Connecticut. Enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps during the early days of World War II, he obtained a
commission at Quantico, Virginia, and became a forward artillery observer who saw action in several South Pacific island invasions before being wounded on Guam. When mustered out in 1946, he held a captaincy and a Purple Heart. Mr. Metelits was walking down North Main Street in South Norwalk on July 25, 1946, when he met a young lady named Belle Gottlieb of Chicago, who was visiting relatives here. They were married in November of that year and celebrated their 40th anniversary last fall. They were planning a trip to the Orient later this year. The marriage led Mr. Metelits to consider a career in teaching and he obtained a certificate at Western Connecticut State University, then known as Danbury State Teachers College. He began teaching at the Saugatuck School in Westport the next year and later took a master’s degree and sixth-year certificate from Columbia University. He also spent one summer at Harvard University. During his 22 years as the only principal of Burr Farms School, the school was cited for a variety of innovative programs, including the implementation of the Project Concern program, which brought inner-city Bridgeport children to Westport each day. He established a reputation for getting the most out of the teaching talent assigned to the school by offering sympathetic help to staff members who were suffering from physical disabilities, emotional problems, financial liabilities, or professional shortcomings. “He ran the best school I ever taught in,’’ one former teacher said this week. Mr. Metelits retired in 1979 after 32 years in the Westport system, still a relatively young man. He kept busy for a period at Ed Mitchell’s in Westport before selling the family home at 44 Stonecrop Road and trying retirement in Florida. That didn’t take, and he and his wife finally settled near their daughter, Merle M. Shannon, in Arlington. He had been running a senior program at Village House in Gaithersburg, Md., for over a year when he died. Also surviving are a son, Dr. Joel B. Metelits, an internist in Phoenix, Arizona; a sister, Mrs. Madeline M. Wollkind of Norwalk, retired co-proprietor with her late husband of Marshall’s Store on Wall Street; a brother, Bernard D. Metelits of San Diego, Calif.; three grandchildren and two nephews.
Buried in Arlington National Cemetery, 1 Memorial Drive, Arlington, Virginia; Section 70, Site 675.
END
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