On March 31st Leander Stammeyer celebrated his 97th birthday with family and friends at the senior citizen home in Sumner, Iowa. Lee’s wife, Marian Schaufenbuel, of almost 70 years passed away in 2014.

Joining Lee for the event were his siblings: Marie Schaufenbuel of Sumner, Iowa; Frank Stammeyer of Oelwein, Iowa, and Joseph Stammeyer of Waco, Iowa. His children attending were Dan Stammeyer of Marion, Iowa; Mary Lee Johns of Hereford, Arizona; and John Stammeyer of Newton, Iowa. Lee’s grandchildren attending were: Jeff Stammeyer, Jenny Colerick, Matthew Johns, and Tim and Joseph Stammeyer.

Lee’s great grandchildren attending were: Marcus and Ciera Colerick, Blake and Emerson Stammeyer, and Andrew and Paige Johns. Friends attending included Audrey Klemmer Drilling, Dan Kuennen and Clair Blong of St. Lucas. Everyone enjoyed the celebration and Lee was very delighted with the festive afternoon. Audrey Drilling said, “I was very happy to see Lee so engaged with his many guests.”

Lee’s illustrious lifetime journey has been filled with many adventures and blessings. In 2016 Lee was selected as the first Citizen of the Year Award, in St. Lucas, Iowa, his hometown. Lee in his quiet unassuming manner made outstanding contributions to the community without ever seeking recognition and praise. 

Lee was critical in the founding of the St. Lucas Historical Society and establishing the rapidly growing German American Museum.  Lee put his funds into the pool to purchase the school building and organize the Society and Museum in the winter of 2003.  These were uncertain times and many sceptics were amused at the thought of a Museum in the village area for celebrating the German heritage.  Lee quietly urged the core group to move beyond talk to action.

To make the Museum a reality, Lee set about designing, building and installing 16 high quality oak display cases in the Museum.  They are the centerpieces of many displays and exhibits.  In fact, they are admired as much as the exhibits.  Lee, in his quiet and unassuming manner, just did it. As you may know, Lee is a master carpenter and woodworker, and built beautiful kitchen cabinets for many homes in the area. 

Lee’s love of country, led him to join the Merchant Marine, an auxiliary service of the U.S. Navy early in World War II.  In those dark and uncertain months of 1942, after Pearl Harbor, Lee was assigned to convoy supply ships convoys that crossed the perilous waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans to support Allied forces in North Africa.  Later Lee’s convoy sailings took him into the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea in support of landings in Italy in 1943 and the Normandy landings in France in June of 1944. 

Lee saw the tenuous and fragile nature of human life when convoy ships were suddenly torpedoed and sank, sometimes with many crew lives lost.  His love of fellow service men and women shows in his dedication to the American Legion and to preserving their memories in the military section of the German American Museum. Lee has quietly gathered the uniforms and other artifacts of many service men and women to give recognition to his fellow comrades in arms.

Lee with the generous help of many veterans has compiled the very large volume that contains the service record of every sailor, soldier and airmen from the St. Lucas area. In addition, Lee compiled a biography sheet on every person who served in the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean Conflict, the Cold War, the Vietnam Conflict and the Persian Gulf War.  These compilations are an invaluable contribution to the history of the community and are highly sought research volumes in the Museum. 

In recent years, Lee turned his energies to saving the cultural and religious heritage of the community. He made recordings of many traditional prayers and the rosary. Lee then turned his attention to recording over 20 Americana songs in the CD format and then recorded many traditional German prayers and songs that were sung in the 1920s and 1930s at St. Luke’s Church. “Lee really likes to preserve our heritage,” Clair Blong notes, “and he is such an amazing source of historical information on the community.”

Two years ago, Lee spent the long winter months compiling a booklet that includes all the businesses and tradesmen in the St. Lucas area in 1950 and in 2015.  This comprehensive listing, Lee says “Demonstrates that St. Lucas was a very self-sufficient and self-reliant community. You had someone who could make or fix anything.  The recent listing shows how many of those skills and tradesmen must come from other towns and areas.”

Lee’s lifetime of business experience has been a blessing to the community and the Museum. Over the past 15 years, Lee has provided clear headed options for window restoration, heating and air conditioning, roofing, plumbing, blacksmith shop painting and especially electrical work in the Museum he dearly loves. The Museum has come a long way from 2003 due to Lee’s insights and persistence. 

In a recent interview with Rosemary Kuennen Most, Lee shared his memories of growing up in the St. Lucas area, his family, his education, seminary training and his strong faith.  Lee was vivid about his short-wave radio training in Chicago, his harrowing service in the Merchant Marine Service, lifetime of carpentry and electrical work experiences, his passion for family history, woodworking and community service. As Rosemary notes, “Lee is a friend and colleague of everyone in the community.  His Citizenship Award recognizes his many accomplishments and strong dedication and service to his community and church.”

At the party’s end, Mary Lee Johns shared, “Thank you to everyone for attending dad’s 97th birthday party. Dad really enjoyed seeing so many of his family and friends. He really liked reminiscing with everyone.”