Leonard T. Boehm, 92 of Eau Claire Wisconsin passed away in his home on May 15th 2013 surrounded by his wife and family. He was born on January 21st 1921 in the Township of Emmett in the village of Halder,Wisconsin, to Robert Boehm and Appolonia Dahlke. Leonard and his future wife Laverna Ott met at the Fournier's Ballroom in Eau Claire Wisconsin and were married on April 12th 1948. He spent his youth working on a dairy farm and at the age of 15 he was skidding logs with a team of horses and making maple syrup with his cousin Harry Boehm in order to make a little income during the depression years. Leonard joined the Navy on September 26th 1942 and was trained at the United States Naval training station in Great Lakes, IL. He was sent to the Naval Operating Base in Sitka Alaska, and later to the Naval Air Station also in Sitka, Alaska. He was assigned to the fire department at both stations. Then to the USS Topeka CL 67 task group 38.1. She was the flagship of the cruiser division 18 with the third fleet in the Asian Pacific Theater, where he achieved the rank of carpenters mate 2nd class in charge of damage control and 13 seamen. The Topeka saw much action in the battles of the Ryukyu Islands and the battle of Okinawa. One of the stories Leonard loved to tell was the antishipping sweep of the entrance to the Sagami Nada near the sea approaches to Tokyo. During the sweep she fired her guns at Japanese installations located on Nojima Zaki where they took out a radar station. During the battle one of the destroyers the Topeka was escorting hit a mine and bent its screw. Leonard talked about how scared they were because they had to limp at 3 knots out of the bay while being fired upon while protecting the damaged destroyer. The USS Topeka, the flag ship to the USS Battleship Missouri, witnessed the signing of the "unconditional surrender" by the Japanese on Sunday September 2nd 1945 on the Missouri. During his service Leonard was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, Asiatic Pacific Medal, American Area Medal, and the Victory Medal. Upon discharge Leonard served as an apprentice at Gyzer Schultz Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He then transferred to Eau Claire to finish his apprenticeship and started working as a carpenter at Hoepner & Bartlett. Later he started his own business, Boehm Home Builders, and built and remodeled many fine homes in Eau Claire working with several different architects and the professional guidance of Jack Jorgenson at Kleiner-Jorgenson Lumber Company. Leonard continued to build homes until he was 78 and was very proud of his work as a trouble shooter with Jimmy Carter's Habitat for Humanity. At the age of 90 he built a dock for his daughter at her cottage in Chetek where he enjoyed fishing from his pontoon. Leonard was a proud and humble man with strong moral and religious convictions. He was a man of compassion, was considerate of others, and valued family, hard work, harmony, honesty, and integrity. As a witness to his passing, his youngest grandson Mario said, "If anyone deserves to go to heaven, it was Grandpa". Leonard often spoke of the importance of having a vision and a plan, in order to succeed in life. He had amazing insight and the ability to personalize every conversation, right to the very end. He is survived by his wife of 65 years Laverna, son Darnell and his wife Leslie Boehm of Monument,Colorado, son Dennis and his wife Jan Boehm of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, daughter Debra and her husband Reinhart Boehme, of Frankfurt Germany, daughter Doreen Boehm of Seattle Washington, son David and his wife Darlene Boehm of Wausau, Wisconsin. Grand Children, Shannon Chesebro, Chad Boehm, Allison Boehm, Brittney Boehm, Pascal Boehme, Mario Boehm and 5 Great Grand Children. He was preceded in death by his sisters Agnes, Alma, Cecelia, brothers Eugene, Mark, son DuWayne and grandson Trevor. The Boehm Family would like to thank Sacred Heart Hospital, Marshfield Clinic, and St. Joseph's Hospice for the wonderful care they provided Leonard. A private celebration of his life will be at a later date with his family. If you would like to see a video of Leonard talking about his war stories you may do so by going to http://youtu.be/3w5MEPExq88

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