Journey Journey
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Fred C. Leone Fred C. Leone Journey Journey JourneyJourney FredFred C.C. LeoneLeone Journey by Fred C. Leone Table of Contents Dedication iv Acknowledgements v Foreword vii Preface ix 1. Introduction 3 2. Betty 12 3. Journey to World War II 30 4. World War II and Beyond 51 5. Cleveland 66 6. Iowa City 88 7. Brazil 96 8. Washington and the American Statistical Association 116 9. European Journeys 131 10. Pacific Journeys 156 11. Latin American Journeys 177 12. China and South Korea 193 13. The Road to India 204 14. The Two Holy Lands 217 15. Celebrations (2000-2002) 233 16. Always Room at the Inn 244 17. Our Journeys in CLC 279 18. Our Parish Journeys 292 19. Fulfillment 305 Afterword 320 Appendix 323 Dedication of Journey to Betty Leone, my dear wife and companion for sixty years. iv Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge all of those persons who have contributed substantially to the production and publication of this book. First, on the publication, let me thank Fr. Paul Ken- ney, S.J. and Sr. Maureen Healy who reviewed my first draft. Carole Burnett and Pat Carter then proofread the manuscript. Each of these did superb work. Pat Carter handled all of the composition and formatting of the pictures. The first three are members of my CLC community, “Living Water,” though Paul is a diaspora member. Pat has been a fellow traveler in CLC for over thirty years. I also wish to acknowledge Marie Schimelfening for doing its foreword and (again) Carole Bur- nett for the final part of the book, (before the Appendix) the Afterword. I thank the trustees of the Arrupe Charitable Trust, for par- tial support of the printing of the book. On the production of this book, there have been a host of contributors. I wish I could state them by name, but that would take pages. First and foremost is my dear wife, Betty. She was a fellow traveler and a firm support on this journey. In fact, the book could have been entitled, “Our Journey.” Cer- tainly, our children and their families helped make this jour- ney complete. So, also did our extended families, for whom we were, and continue, to be mother and father. One of them called me in November, 2004 to say, “You have a new grand- son.” In April, 2005, I expect another call to announce that I am a great-grandfather. The next major contributors are the members of Christian Life Community, primarily in the U.S., but also throughout the world. They were my “traveling companions” for almost 50 years. And finally, I thank the members of my parish communi- ties, in Cleveland, Iowa City and Washington, DC. I have been part of the latest parish, Nativity, since the day we moved to Washington in 1973. All of these have been part of the composition of my journey. They have been companions, they have listened to v me, guided me, and nurtured me. They have been part of my joys and sorrows, consolation and desolation. In short, they are the true authors of this book. I thank them all and I thank you for listening to me, as tell you about my journey. vi Foreword What an honor, a privilege, and a joy to be asked to write this foreword for someone whose journey has been long, fruit- ful, and truly enjoyed by many along the way! As Fred indi- cated in many parts of Journey, it is not only his but ours — al- ways including his loving wife, Betty, in so many chapters and verses. I had the opportunity of knowing Fred and Betty for more than thirty years. I had to smile many times when I read about their early years. It was like an “Ah” moment. For both Betty and Fred to be so steadfast in their years together is truly a gift. The reflection after each chapter makes it livable, and it is a tug or challenge to apply that kind of reflection to the vari- ous periods of my life or yours, the reader’s, as Fred wrote. I found myself smiling, laughing, and sometimes in tears reading Journey. And at times I found myself saying, “That’s Fred!” He writes about the research he was doing at one point of his journey which involved a return to Case Western. Here he was met with a comment, “You are Dr. Leone? Oh, we have your wonderful spaghetti recipe in our classified files.” So much for the serious research, but that recipe led to his obtain- ing the papers he needed. During each chapter of his and Betty’s journeys to many parts of the country and the world, you feel as if you are right there with them at every turn. Their nine children are all mentioned and have a special place in the chapters that follow. This includes the twins, who were their firstborn and not many days later became their an- gels in heaven. I have had the privilege of knowing the family and in some ways watching the younger ones, namely, Larry and Lucy, as they made the necessary transitions on the jour- neys. Later I would meet and know the rest of their family and their children. Prayer and everyday life are blended together — better put, they are integrated. Both Fred and Betty accepted CLC as their way of life, and, as a result, Ignatian spirituality. Once this became a part of their lives, then without a doubt not only the Ignatian terminology is there, but also the many ways in vii which each turn they made in their lives came out of a process of true discernment. The discernment included the question of how would it affect their children, their neighbors, and their friends along the way. We know and hear that our society is individualistic. But reading the Journey and the journeys with- in, the reader will come to realize that Betty’s and Fred’s were far from being individualistic. Many readers of the Journey will be happy to read about themselves and the impact they had on Fred and Betty’s life. Others will journey through the year with Fred and be able to say “Yes, I remember that so well as if it happened to you yes- terday.” There is nothing individualistic about the Journey. It in- spires the reader to look at his or her own journey in perhaps a new and creative way. Fred not only writes down his own questions for reflection, but also invites us to do the same after each chapter. In the summer of 2004 Fred told me he was going to write a book about his life, his journey. And so he did. He mentions a Divine Plan that God had for both of them all along the way. The plan was accepted and lived out to the fullest. And for Fred it continues. Fred, thank you for the Journey and for the creative and honest way you have shared it. I know Betty is smiling. Marie Shimelfening January 2005 viii Preface “Forty years ago, there was a popular program called ‘Wagon Train.’ Each week, it presented the adventures of a group of settlers moving west from St. Louis to California and places in between. Week after week, you could see these trav- elers facing good times and bad, sickness and health, experi- encing peace and violent attack, but the common element was the continuous moving forward. Each episode would end with ’the train’ teaming up, and moving on from one adventure to the next. “Many pieces of literature involve this type of journey. It’s because ‘the journey’ is a perfect image for life in general. We are always moving; we have a past we can refer to, but we are not now where we were then. And we have a future we look forward to, but we won’t necessarily be where we are now. Where are we now and, more importantly, where do we go from here? These are important questions for all of us to ask ourselves. “We might ask ourselves such questions as: What is my relationship to my God and my family? Who is God to me? What is my relationship to my neighborhood near and far? Where is my impact on the wider community? I am sure that you have so many others, like (1) What have I done with my life? (2) What role did I play in my Church?“ (Taken, with permission, from the “Pastor’s Desk” by Fr, Steve Schenck, SDB, in the Nativity Parish Sunday Bulletin) When I had been urged by many to write a book on my journey, I first interpreted “journey” as my travels and the anecdotes that went with this. However, after starting a few chapters, I realize that “journey” should not mean simply travels but the movements of my heart and my mind. In other words, our journeys are both our outer journeys (people, places and events) and the inner journeys (relationships, growth, re- sponse to God). The outer journey is the framework while the inner journey is made up of the contents. Our journey begins at birth and continues through ever- lasting life. We are given gifts, gifts of people who care for us and for whom we care. We are given gifts of “talents.” With ix people, events, and places, we build relationships. We become stewards of these gifts and are asked to use these gifts for oth- ers. We do not own these gifts, and ultimately they return to our Creator.