PMTG suffered a devastating loss with the sudden death of Tri Star driver Leonard (Lenny) Wagner. Lenny as he was known by all his friends, passed away February 14, 2007. Lenny began his career with Tri Star in December 1997 and had been driving commercially since 1959. He had just celebrated his 66th birthday at the end of January. Lenny and his family called Defiance, Ohio their home.
Thousands of people come in and out of your life over the years, and many are soon forgotten, if noticed at all. Then there are a select few that you meet, get to know and never, ever forget. Lenny is one of those rare people that I will always remember. First of all, I will remember his identifying Mohawk haircut. Then there was the way he rolled up the cuffs on his short sleeved shirts. I always thought he did that because the sleeve wasn’t big enough to hold his bicep muscles. Lenny had arms that any 20 year old would have been proud of. One day when Lenny came into my office, sporting that big grin, I jumped to my feet to greet my old friend. We shook hands and I thought he would bring tears to my eyes. Lenny had a grip that could crack walnuts. I never told him, but my hand was sore for two weeks afterwards, and he wasn’t even trying.
The thing I will remember most about Lenny was his attitude and his love for his family. In an industry where it is easy to fall in with the naysayers, Lenny was a class act, always displaying a smile and a positive attitude, a true professional. I never heard Lenny say anything negative about anybody or anything. When friends come into my office, the conversation will always turn to their interests. With some it might be fishing and others might be cars or woodworking. With Lenny the conversation always lead to his family and his grandchildren. He loved to talk about things that were going on in his family. You could see the excitement in his eyes as he would tell his stories. Many men love their families but Lenny made his love obvious to all he met.
My first thought at the news of his passing was “His poor family”. If they loved him, as I’m sure they did, like he loved them, this would be a terrible loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family that Lenny loved so much.
About two weeks ago when Lenny was last in my office, he mentioned that we had forgotten to mention his birthday in the newsletter. He said his wife noticed that we had forgotten it last year too and jokingly suggested that Lenny really didn’t work here at all. I promised we would mention him in the next edition and put poor Betty’s concerns to rest. In a million years, I never would have thought this is how it would happen.
Gods speed old friend, we will miss you but we will always remember.
Bruce E. Eldridge
Recruiting Manager
Thank you for the article on "Lenny". We very much appreciate all the help and support we have received from PMTG and its employees. The personal notes and comments are great and very comforting to hear. They show us how much he meant to a lot of people. Please keep us in your prayers.
Posted by: Darlene Wagner & Family | March 28, 2007 at 08:09 PM